The Friday's End
by Dinosaurchicken
Summary: Two souls confined to a single body, one being slowly corrupted by the other's influence. They're flung into a world not of their own, without an explanation. What will they do?
1. It Begins

**A/N: Hello all. I just had this story idea, and decided to share. By the way, for**** reference, think of part 7 Jason.**

_Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma..._

I awoke with an awful feeling of nausea in the pit of my stomach, a feeling so intense that I wanted nothing more than to tear out my own stomach. My thoughts were sluggish and my limbs felt cumbersome.

I didn't know where I was, but at the time, I didn't care. The world itself seemed to spin around me as I laid there. I felt the urge to vomit, but for some reason, I was unable to.

So, for what felt like hours, I simply stayed on the ground. It was obvious that I was in no condition to move at that point.

As the feeling in my stomach lessened, I noticed something odd about my condition. Other than my aforementioned nausea, I couldn't feel anything. I was entirely numb. From what I could tell, my movement wasn't impaired, but it still made for an unsettling experience.

Finally, after a long while, I stumbled onto my feet.

This is when I finally noticed something very wrong.

_...This isn't my body._

I was massive, and not in the fat way. In fact, all of the fat previously on me was gone. It wasn't very much anyways, but it still was a noticable amount. The clothes on my body were little more than rags, and they were covered in muck and grime.

...It took me a while to notice that I was wearing a mask.

Yeah, I'm an idiot sometimes.

It also took me a second to notice my surroundings.

... I should probably get glasses.

I was in a forest. The grass was a vibrant green, the trees were gigantic, and small shrubs and other plants were pretty much everywhere. Yep, typical forest stuff.

However, the forest had an unnatural feeling that put me on edge. There were dangerous things here, that much I was sure about.

_...How the fuck did I even get here?_

No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't remember the events that led me here.

I looked to the sky to get a sense of direction, but the trees were too thick. Only a small amount of light was let through. I couldn't tell if it was midday or evening.

I could just barely see the edges of the mask, but it was annoying nontheless. I fumbled with it for a second, before finally taking it off. I flipped it around to get a better look at it, and was pretty confused by it.

_What the fuck...?_

It was the hockey mask that Jason Voorhees wore in the seventh Friday the 13th film. Why was I wearing it? I didn't have a mask like that.

_Well, it's mine now._

That sentiment made me feel strangely content. As I slipped my mask back onto my head, I decided to drink in the scenery for a moment longer.

...

...

...

_This is nice. I like thi-_

_***CRASH***_

A shockwave rumbled through the Earth, which sent me sprawling.

I picked myself up off the ground, looking around for any sign of danger. After about a minute, I crept towards the noise, careful not to make a sound. I stalked through the underbrush, taking care to keep myself out of sight.

I was absolutely befuddled at what I saw.

Not ten feet from me, were both Alice and Luka. Two main characters from the game "Monster Girl Quest".

They seemed... Smaller than I expected.

Alice had wrapped Luka in her tail, and was questioning him about where she was, and other stuff like that.

Safe to say, I panicked.

_What the hell...?_

I was lost in a world where getting fucked to death was a common situation. Worse, I barely knew anything about the story, as I never actually played it for more than ten minutes.

I sighed, trying to calm myself down. That was a mistake. She noticed me, and promptly dropped Luka.

**"Come out."** Her words were calm, but chilling nontheless.

_Fuck._

I resigned myself to my fate, slowly trudging forth from the bushes.

Alice's eyes widened when she saw me, and her gaze hardened into a vicious glare.

Luka, on the other hand, looked terrified.

Alice dropped Luka on his ass, before bringing herself into a fighting stance.

"Whoah there L-" I began, before cutting myself off out of horror. What made me so terrified to speak, you ask? Simple. My voice.

It sounded it was an awful, wet cacophony that sounded like it hadn't been used in decades. Furthermore, it was _incredibly _deep. To compare it to my old voice, imagine someone playing a recorder, while a second person blasts out your eardrums with a tuba.

Just what had happened to me?

I pondered this question for a few more seconds before Alice _**PUNCHED**_ me in the chest, sending me flying backwards. I smashed into a tree with enough force to shatter its trunk. And shatter it did. The earpiercing crack echoed throughout the forest, swiftly followed by the sound of the tree's grim remains hitting the ground.

.

.

.

_HOW THE FUCK AM I NOT DEAD?!_

I tried to get up, only for Alice to quickly restrain me in her tail.

"Who made you?" Alice asked. I went wide-eyed at the sheer amount of hate in her voice.

"W-what?" I asked, both confused at the question, and also her sudden mood change. What happened to the casual disdain she'd had when talking to Luka?

"Who is your creator? I won't ask again, zombie." She snarled.

"...What the fuck are you talking about?" I questioned. Panic rose in my body when I saw the expression of fury on her face.

"You're a _zombie_, how would you not know?" She yelled.

"I'm not a zombie." I stated, forcing the fear out of my voice.

She growled, letting her tail slacken. Before I could get free, however, she grabbed my arm, and started dragging me somewhere.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I half asked/screamed.

"Since you're in denial, I guess I'll have to prove it to you." She stated coldly.

Soon after, we reached a lake. Without warning, she ripped off my mask, and forced my head close to the water. My eyes widened in horror at my reflection.

"...WHAT THE _**FUCK**_?!" I roared.

**A/N: That's a wrap for this chapter. Let me know what you thought.**

**-DinosaurChicken**


	2. Apathy Is Obviously Not The Best Policy

**A/N: I'm back. I didn't expect anyone to see this. Anyways, let's go.**

"…WHAT THE _**FUCK?"**_ I roared.

My face was rotten. It was a sick hue of purplish-black. Bone was exposed around my left eye socket, and my entire left cheek was gone, save for a sliver of flesh that was probably once part of my lips.

My reflection also revealed things on my body that, otherwise I wouldn't have seen.

Through the tattered holes in my clothes, I could see more rotten flesh. My ribcage was exposed as well. Most of the flesh on my hands and forearms was gone, showing the bone underneath.

I rounded on Alice.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?" I screamed.

"I've done nothing to you." Alice stated.

"THEN WHY AM I LIKE THIS?!" I screamed, louder than the last time.

"Obviously, you were raised from the dead by a necromancer." Alice replied.

I paused at that, confused at what she just said.

"I was raised from the dead? By who?" I asked, confused.

Alice facepalmed.

"That's what I've been asking you!" She yelled.

Oh, right.

"God, I'm stupid." I groaned.

"You just figured that out?" Alice snarked. "Seriously, how did you not realize you were a zombie?"

She tossed me onto the ground, thankfully, with much less force then the last time she sent me ragdolling a few minutes ago.

"I think we already covered my stupidity today." I muttered.

Alice sighed. She was silent for a moment, before continuing her line of questioning from earlier.

"If you didn't know you were a zombie, and you don't know who resurrected you, then how did you even get here in the first place?" She asked.

"I kinda just… Woke up here." I said sheepishly. "I don't remember how I got here."

Her eyes narrowed at that.

I simply shrugged in response.

"…Anyways, you're nothing like other zombies." Alice said.

"I would like to think so." I muttered.

_Yeah, being on the same level as a zombie would be pretty bad._

"You seem fully sentient, which, for zombies, is pretty much impossible." She continued, ignoring me.

I sorta tuned her out at one point. Specifically, it was around the time she started talking about what zombies eat. Dear lord, that was gross. What the hell is wrong with this world?!

Seriously, who made it so that a zombie's main source of food was… well, you know.

Thankfully, I don't have to sustain myself with such indecent things… I hope.

I zoned out, basically ignoring everything she said. I kinda forgot she was talking at all, until she grabbed me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Did… did you just completely ignore me?" She growled.

"…Would you be mad if I said yes?" I asked.

She sighed, swearing under her breath.

"A sentient zombie is a really concerning thought. I am going to take you to get looked at by one of my subordinates." Alice said.

"…You see, that sentence has many implications," I said, warily. "And, frankly, I don't like any of them."

Alice facepalmed again, with way more force used compared to last time.

"You idiot. Nobody wants to touch you like that." Alice said.

"That's… not at all what I meant." I said. "But hey, you just basically stomped on the remains of my confidence, so… rude."

Alice sighed.

"I just want her to take a look at you, and maybe figure out how you work." She explained.

"Are zombies that rare?" I asked.

"No. However, a _sentient_ zombie…" She trailed off. "That's basically impossible."

I idly noticed that she never asked for my permission. This made me pretty annoyed, to be honest. And on top of that, she still hadn't clarified what she planned to do to me. I was _not_ about to be dissected just because I can think. I'm already essentially a walking corpse, so I'd like not to be cut up more than necessary.

"I will not be an experiment for you to poke and prod at." I growled.

Alice sighed, louder than last time.

"Imagine the destruction a necromancer could cause with an army of undead that could actually make decisions, rather than mindlessly following orders." She said.

"I don't care." I said, less than a second after she finished talking.

Alice sneered at me.

"So you would rather have countless lives die, instead of going with me to be examined?" She questioned, anger dripping into her voice.

"Not my problem." I said, apathetic to the hypothetical situation.

I watched Alice's face contort into a visage of disgust and hate.

"Do you know how many lives could be lost? If we don't figure out how you're sentient, we can't make counters to it! Do you truly not care?" She seethed.

"Not really, no." I said flatly. "I don't see the problem with smart zombies."

The air around her seemed to sizzle as her rage climbed to dangerous levels.

"Zombies can't change tactics unless ordered to by a necromancer! Do you know why?" She asked, continuing before I could answer. "Because they're mindless! They can be raised from the dead with ease, and they're pretty strong compared to most people! They're only easy to fight because they can't adapt without help! If they were given the intelligence to make decisions and adapt to a situation, it would be catastrophic!" She exploded.

She continued her tirade without giving me a chance to make a counterpoint.

"They could turn against their masters! If that happened, there'd be an uncontrollable army of sentient undead! They could wipe out entire nations!" Alice screamed.

"So…? You seem powerful. Couldn't you just wipe them all out?" I asked.

Despite my lack of knowledge about this world, I knew Alice was incredibly powerful.

"That's not the point! Both humans and monsters would suffer casualties greater than ever before! Entire cities would be wiped out before anyone could make a dent in their forces!" She continued.

I was starting to get scared at her reactions. She seemed like she was about ready to kill me.

"You'd be able to stop them eventually. There are many types of monsters powerful enough to combat the zombies." I stated, trying my hardest not to expose the rising fear I felt inside.

In hindsight, that was a really stupid thing to say.

"It doesn't matter if it could be stopped. Countless people would die regardless." She said, her voice growing cold. It lost the heated rage, but was replaced with hard, frosty anger. She was calm, collected, and most assuredly about to knock my head off.

In an effort to make the situation less stressed, I replied with: "Well… You win some, you lose some."

That was not my smartest move.

Before I could comprehend my situation, I was hurling through the air at incredible speed, with an enraged Alice flying swiftly after me.

She caught up with me in mid-air, landing a vicious uppercut under my chin. My head snapped back, leaving me disoriented. This left me unable to form a defense, before she slammed me into the ground, leaving a pretty large crater.

Alice landed on top of me, landing blow after blow on my body. Several bones inside me shattered every time she landed a hit, leaving me immobile.

Finally, she threw me up onto a tree, where I was impaled by a branch. The world faded quickly from my eyes. Within a matter of minutes, I slipped into unconsciousness.

Alice took a moment to calm down, as she stared at the corpse of the creature. It was most assuredly dead, as there was no feeling of magic coming from it. She felt satisfied at the fact that no one could use it to create an army of sentient zombies. At least, not anymore.

After a moment, she left, following the scent of that purple-haired boy.

Little did Alice know, however, that it was going to storm that night.

**A/N: This isn't the end. It's only just begun.**

**I don't think there were any sentient zombies in MGQ. There were intelligent ones, sure, but they weren't smart enough to be sentient. I don't think any zombies could turn against the necromancer who created them, but I could be very wrong. It's been a while since I played through it.**

**Hope you enjoyed this.**


	3. I LIVE

**A/N: IMPORTANT: So, last chapter... I kinda messed up. I think I worded things pretty badly, so allow me to clarify some things.**

**1\. When I was talking about zombies being sentient I kinda forgot about ****La Croix's little group. However, to my knowledge, they couldn't disobey the Necromancer herself, which technically means they have limited free will. So, yeah... I screwed up the wording on that one... Oops.**

**2\. Alice can turn hostile pretty easy in part 1. For example: if you leave her in the forest, she kills you. I do acknowledge that she was a bit ooc. That one's my fault. I'm not great at ****this.**

**Without further ado, let's begin.**

One of the priests at Ilias temple stared through the window, gazing at the ominous dark cloud that was enveloping the sky. He was a short man, barely reaching five feet in height. His skin was pale, and wrinkled. Wisps of grey hair clung to his head in a way that was not dissimilar to how snow would cling to the ground, trying not to melt in the spring's heat.

He was not immaculately dressed, sporting a simple cloth shirt, along with pants of the same make, as well as some leather sandals. Small, rounded spectacles sat on his nose, completing the old man look.

He sighed, and shook his head. One of the gaurds to his left noticed this.

"Father Johnson, is something the matter?" Asked the gaurd.

"A storm is brewing, young man." Said the priest. "And I have a feeling it isn't natural."

"Could it be monster related?" Asked the gaurd, a small hint of fear in his voice.

"I don't know, but we should have the whole town on aler-" Father Johnson was cut off, as a deafening crack of thunder reverberated through the air, shaking the temple.

"Go! Warn the town!" He shouted.

The gaurd sprinted out of the room, yelling for the other gaurds.

Father Johnson knelt down, praying to Ilias for the safety of the town.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Lightning flashed across the sky, startling Luka. He sighed, trying his hardest to fall asleep.

Alice had decided to follow him, and he couldn't get rid of her. He didn't really know what to think of her.

His mind wandered back to the creature from earlier. Just what manner of being was it? Alice freaked out when she saw him. At first, when he spoke, Luka had hoped it to be a reasonable being.. However, after hearing him so casually dismiss the Lamia's suggestions, citing his reason as being "not his problem", all possible goodwill had vanished.

Alice quickly dispatched of him afterwards. Luka was awed at her fighting prowess, and promised to himself to do better.

Lightning flashed again, followed by rolling waves of thunder.

He peeked his head out of his tent. Alice was curled around a tree, sleeping soundly despite the violent storm.

Luka was about to go back into his tent, when another flash of lightning assualted his senses. However, this one seemed to be much closer than the others.

He just hoped the forest hadn't caught fire.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Some people say luck doesn't exist. Perhaps it does, and perhaps it doesn't. There's no way to prove or disprove either argument.

However, this could be considered pretty good proof to luck's existence.

The lightning bolt had just so happened to strike a particular tree, electrocuting a particular person's body, reviving them.

They jumped foward, somehow slipping off the tree limb during their convulsions.

After a while, the convulsions stopped. The person, now caked in mud, slowly got up.

Now, let's get back to the normal point of view.

_***LINEBREAK***_

...

...

...

_I'M ALIVE?!_

As the electricity coursed through me, questions swirled through my brain at rapid speed. How was I here? How was I not dead? And, most importantly, how was I moving?

Hadn't Alice essentially pulverized my bones to dust? And hadn't she impaled me on a tree limb?.

I checked the area through which I was speared by the branch. To my shock, the hole was slowly closing. I watched in sick fascination as my flesh slowly knitted itself back together.

It didn't change my appearence any. I was still a rotting bag of flesh and bones, but hey, regeneration!

Good to know I could take hits without care.

I sighed, and slumped against the tree. The wet ground made an audible squelch as I sat down.

What was I going to do? I'd just made enimies of the two main characters! I wasn't about to side with Ilias. I may not have known much about MGQ, but I knew she was bad news. She was the main villan, after all.

My musings were interrupted as I heard the soft movements of someone wading through the bushes.

I snapped my head towards the noise. Now, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I can tell you, that a prepubescent Slime girl was _not_ it.

Her eyes widened when she saw my face. She shrieked, and turned to flee.

"Wait!" I yelled, dashing over to her.

I stopped in front of her. She yelped, and went to go in another direction, but I blocked her again.

She stopped, and looked up at me with fearful eyes. She was on the verge of tears. I cringed internally when I noticed that.

_Great, my face makes children cry_.

I kneeled down, and patted her on the head. It felt weird, like touching jello.

"It's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you." I said, trying to sound comforting. That was really difficult when you had the vocal chords of a dead man who'd been trapped under water for several years. I think I did a good job, considering that fact.

She looked up at me, and sniffled.

"R-really?" She asked, hesitant to speak.

"Really." I said, attempting to sound friendly.

She was silent for a moment, before asking: "What's wrong with your face?"

"It's... a skin disease." I lied. "In fact, my mask is around here somewhere.."

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted it. Quickly, I picked it up, and put it back in its rightful place.

I turned to her. She was gazing off in a random direction, her eyes showing her fear.

"What is it, kid?" I asked.

"A b-bad man attacked my m-mommy!" She yelled. "She told me to run, so I did!"

My eyes widened. Someone did _what_?

I was not going to let that stand.

"Okay, where did you run from?" I asked.

The direction she pointed in was dense with plantlife. If I strained my eyes, I could see a campfire in the distance. My eyes narrowed.

"Okay, what's your name?" I asked her.

"M-my mommy calls me Sam." She said.

"Okay, Sam." I said. "I'll be back. Stay here. If some more bad men come, hide."

"Okay." She said. "But wait! What's your name?"

I thought for a moment, before deciding what to tell her.

"Call me Jason."

With that, I stomped towards the campfire, my body trembling with rage.

**A/N: Done with that chapter. Hope you enjoy. Wrote it in the span of an hour at around 4 A.M.**

**I should go to sleep.**


	4. Confrontation, Also Depressing Things

**A/N: hope you've all enjoyed so far. I've certainly had fun writing this.**

**Let's begin.**

As I stomped into the clearing, I noticed a large, but thin puddle of slime covering the ground. My eyes widened as I realized what that was.

Sam's mother's corpse.

"Hey. Who the fuck are you?" I heard an obnoxious voice ask.

I turned around, shaking with rage.

There was a man sitting by the campfire. I noticed that he had a machete strapped to his side. It was covered in slime goo.

I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Did you kill this slime?" I asked, gesturing to the puddle.

In response, he laughed. _LAUGHED!_

"Yeah. You shoulda seen her little girl run! Shame she got away, I would've had some _fun_ with he-ACK" I cut him off by closing my fist around his throat. I yanked him into the air, and threw him onto the ground.

Before he could get up, I placed my foot on his chest. He reached for his machete, but I grabbed it first.

I raised it into the air, but stopped as I heard his pleas.

"Please! Don't kill me!" He cried.

Something in me snapped. He had the _nerve_ to ask for mercy? After what he'd done?

This fucker was gonna die slow.

I checked that the machete was sharp. It was _incredibly_ sharp. The craftmanship was excellent, as well. He likely stole it from Enrika, or somewhere similar.

With little effort, I stabbed it into the ground, with the blade facing towards his crotch. With my preparations complete, I grabbed him by the legs, and _slooowly_ started pulling. He seemed catch on pretty quickly.

"No! NO! PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP!" He cried. He tried to claw his way forwards, but he couldn't compete with my strength.

I smiled under the mask as his flesh met the blade. It passed through his crotch with relative ease. The screams started almost immediately, raising in intensity as the machete passed through his intestines.

He thrashed around, spraying blood everywhere. He was already doomed. Didn't he understand that?

I felt some resistance as I pulled his legs forward. I looked down in confusion, before realizing that I'd hit the ribs. I pulled with a little more force, and felt his them give way. I continued onwards, slicing up into the neck.

His screams and sobs turned into coughs and gags once I was halfway through his trachea. Blood was pouring out of his mouth, nose, and eyes.

Content to let him sit there, I grabbed the machete, and pulled it out of the ground.

As I slipped it onto my belt, (I really just put the blade beside my leg, in my pants) I turned to the corpse.

This was about the time when the red veil of rage was lifted from my mind.

My eyes widened at the realization of what I'd just done. I just killed him. No remorse. That was such a torturous way to go, too.

What sickened me was the fact that I didn't care at all. His life was meaningless to me. It had been so easy.

I shook my head. What's done is done. He deserved it.

... It felt odd to not care. Most of my decisions in life were impacted by empathy, and to so callously dispose of someone's very existence... It was just wrong.

But... That felt kinda good.

What's the harm in his death? That was justice. I'm in the right here! All I did was end some scumbag's existence. I did this world a favor.

I shouldn't feel bad for him.

...

...

...

What was I doing earlier...

Oh, right. Sam.

I turned, and trudged back through the forest.

_Hope she's okay. The rain is really starting to pick up._

Thankfully, she was waiting for me by the tree.

_Wait... How do I tell her that her mother died__?_

Fuck.

_WELP! TIME TO WING IT!_

"Hey Sam." I said.

"D-did you find my mother?" She asked.

I sighed, and knelt down beside her, wrapping her in a hug. She understood pretty quickly.

I held her, as she sobbed uncontrollably into my shoulder. I unconciously hugged a little tighter.

"I'm sorry." I said.

Empathy is a funny thing. I couldn't give a crap about that dude I just killed, but here I was, holding a little slime girl while I myself was on the verge of tears.

I don't know how long we were there. It could've been a few minutes, or it could've been hours.

Finally, after an unknowable amount of time, I got up.

"Sam." I said, hiding my sadness. "Do you have any family? Anywhere I can take you?"

"M-m-my mom's sister. She lives a couple hours from here." Sam stuttered.

"Alright then. Lead the way." I said.

_***LINEBREAK***_

The journey only took about an hour and a half. Nothing of intrest happened, other than more of Sam sobbing, so I'll spare the details.

She led me to an abandoned house. It wasn't necessarily in bad shape, it was just overtaken by plant matter.

"Is this the place?" I asked.

"Yeah." Sam said, sadness in her voice, no doubt left over from the little emotional episode earlier.

By now, It was the dead of night. Thankfully, this body seems to have come with night vision, which made things much easier.

Sam probably had some form of night vision as well, seeing as she led me perfectly, without any mess ups.

I knocked on the door.

For a moment, there was silence. Then, the door opened.

The slime who opened the door looked at me, her eyes scrunched in disdain. It was understandable, seeing how late it was. However, when her gaze fell upon Sam, her eyes widened to the size of dinnerplates.

She quickly ushered us inside.

"Sam, honey." She said. "Go sit in my room for a bit."

As Sam left, her aunt turned to me.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"My name's Jason." I said.

"I'm Melissa." She said.

A moment of awkward silence passed between us.

Melissa pulled a chair from under the table, and sat on it. I did the same, pulling out a chair and sitting on the opposite side of the table.

"So... What's with your body?" She asked.

"Skin disease." I replied.

"Oh." She said. "Is it contagious?"

"No." I said.

"Oh. Good." Melissa responded.

This conversation was _**SUPREMELY**_ awkward.

"So... What happened?" She asked.

I described to her the bare bones of what happened. I purposely left out what I did to the man. It was pretty messed up, after all.

When I was done, Melissa had her head in her hands, and I could hear her softly weeping. After a moment, she looked up at me, a sad smile adorning her features.

"Thank you. If you hadn't come along, I would've probably lost Sam as well as my sister." She said.

"Bringing her here was the least I could do." I said.

"W-... What happened to the man that killed her?" She inquired, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Bastard got what was coming to him. Rest assured, he can't hurt anyone anymore." I said, anger leaking into my voice as I thought of him.

Melissa nodded, and sniffed.

"That's good, at least." She said.

"...I'm sorry for your loss." I said grimly.

"Thanks. That m-means a lot to m-me." She stuttered.

Awkward silence has returned.

I sighed, and then got up from the table.

"Goodbye, ma'am." I said.

As I turned to leave, Melissa stopped me.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"My plan is to find work in town... But I'm very lost." I said.

"Oh." She said. "Iliasburg isn't far from here. Just go straight until you hit the main road, and then turn left. If you keep going left, you'll reach it in less than 3 hours. If you don't stop along the way, you can probably make it there before sunrise."

"Thanks." I said, smiling under my mask.

As I opened the door, I felt her hug me from behind. I stood there for a moment, letting her finish. Then, I left.

Following her directions, I went left at the main road.

The main benefit of traveling at night, it seems, is that you almost never get into confrontations at night. Most monsters wait until daytime to ambush people, so, if you travel at night, you're unlikely to encounter any monsters.

However, by pointing that out to you, I've invoked a literary convention, which means I _will_ encounter a monster.

Any second now...

Any second...

...

...

Huh, guess I was wro-

"Hello huma- WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR BODY?!"

There it is.

I turned to the woman, and cringed when I saw her. She was some strange, grotesque half-worm half-human. She was oddly slimey. It was disgusting.

I know I'm not one to talk, but _EW_!

"You haven't answered the question." She said.

"Hmm?" I questioned. Well, I guess that was more just... The implication of a question, rather than an actual inquiry, but whatever.

"Whatever." She said. "Soon, I'll have you writhing in-" I cut her off.

"I'm gonna stop you right there." I said. "I have places to be. I also have no qualms about killing you. Please kindly fuck off, before I snap and stab you."

The worm girl was about to say something, but she quickly noticed all the blood on my clothes. After a moment, she dove into the ground, and tunnelled away.

"Thank God." I muttered, before continuing on the path.

I would get to Iliasburg before sunrise, damnit.

Not because I needed to, but because I wanted to bypass early morning traffic.

I miss my world. When you were in traffic there, you were all seperated by cars. Here, you're shoulder to shoulder with people. I don't like that.

Welp, onwards to Iliasburg!

**A/N: Both chapter 3, as well as this one were written back to back. It's currently 6:44 A.M. I'm about to pass out.**

**This is probably the longest chapter I've ever done here. My limit is usually around 1K. This one's over 2K.**

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	5. Confrontation And Stupidity

**A/N: Hello all. I don't have anything to say here...****Let's begin.**

The rain had let up sometime in the night. Thunder still crackled in the distance, but it was obvious that the storm was long gone.

I was humming to myself as I walked. It sounded _awful_, but I was too bored to care. The ground squelched every time I took a step. Whenever I looked behind me, I could see my footprints in the mud. They were massive when compared to the random shit on the side of the road.

Mostly, it was normal stuff. Tree branches, rocks, ETC. However, there were also things of a more dubious and concerning nature. Every now and then, you'd see articles of clothing, such as shirts, pants, or underwear. What happened to these people?

I shuddered. Probably best not to think about it. Besides, I think I already know.

This world is gross.

Y'know, I thought that I'd be attracted to the monsters roaming this world. In actuality, I didn't feel anything like that.

I still didn't feel stuff on a physical level, either. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. It certainly was trippy as hell. I had to glance down every now and then, to make sure I still had my machete. While I have no doubt that I could fend off the monsters here with my fists, I wasn't so sure about later on. Ilias continent was supposed to be the beginning point, so it would make sense.

That brings me to another point. Do you know how freaky it is to be trapped in a world that you thought was fictional? I'll give you a hint. It's _very_ freaky.

_Shame I didn't play much of the game. That would've made thing_-

My thoughts were cut off as I noticed a campsite ahead of me. It seemed a little stupid to camp on the main road, but whatever. It wasn't my problem.

I approached softly, as stealthily as I possibly could. The camp was simple, with only a tent, and an unlit campfire.

I noticed the outline of the person sleeping in the tent. They were small. Well, they were smaller than other people. Obviously, most people were small compared to me. Other than that, there was nothing remarkable about them. Still, the person gave off a familiar feeling, and I wasn't quite sure why.

I turned to leave, but stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw.

Only a few feet away, was Alice curled up against a tree.

How did I not notice her?!

I _really_ need glasses.

Thankfully, she was asleep. With extra caution, I slowly crept out of the camp. That was a can of worms I did NOT want to open.

After I was out of earshot, I resumed walking normally.

_How did I already catch up to them?_

Actually, it kind of made sense. They'd stopped to sleep. I hadn't. I wasn't even sure if I needed to anymore. I certainly didn't _feel_ tired. And for all I know, maybe Melissa's house had been in the direction of Iliasburg.

A startling realization was that I'd be completely lost without Melissa's directions. I made a mental note to learn how to read a map.

I'd have to do it later. I still have a _lot_ of walking to do.

_***LINEBREAK***_

It was currently at that point in the morning when the night had faded away, but the sun hadn't yet made its appearence.

Iliasburg was within sight. It would still be another half hour before I reached it, but that was okay. I'd still make it before sunrise if I hurried.

I picked up the pace, going from a nice stroll, to a brisk jog.

There were many small farms along the road. There were several people working in the field. Most stopped to watch me pass. I waved. They didn't.

I was getting impatient, so I started moving faster. From the perspective of any random passerby, all they saw was a massive, zombified man sprinting towards the town. That probably counted as suspicious, but I didn't care. I wanted to get to Iliasburg.

Soon, I arrived at the town gate. It was just a standard medieval gate. Not much to say about it. It was gaurded by two people. Again, standard stuff.

Do I sound bored? Because I am.

Of course, I was stopped by them. They gawked at my appearence, looking me up and down.

"Like what you see?" I quipped. They ignored me.

"U-um, sir,". The gaurd said. "I will not allow you to enter the town. Leave immediately."

I sighed. I was _not_ about to put up with this shit.

"And why would that be?" I growled.

The other gaurd, seeing the possible trouble about to brew, elbowed his partner.

"You may go right in. Don't listen to my partner." He said.

"Thanks." I said. At least one of them was smart.

With that, I stepped into the city.

Even though the sun hadn't risen yet, people were already out and about, commencing with their daily routines.

I got quite a few stares as I walked through town. That was expected, of course, but it still felt weird.

I looked around town, searching for something to do. I wasn't about to interfere with the main storyline, whatever it may be. This left my schedule quite empty.

As I was walking, I spotted a tavern. I knew it was a tavern, because of the sign in front of it, which said: "TAVERN" in capital letters.

That seemed a bit repetitive. However, seeing as It was my best lead for action, I went in.

The moment I walked in, everything stopped. People stared at me. Some seemed fearful, and others seemed to have some unreasonable hatred of me. Their expressions told me everything.

I calmly took a seat at the bar, and waited. People slowly went back to whatever they were doing, still wary of my presence, but not enough to pay close attention.

Eventually, the bartender (Or whatever the medieval equivalent of a bartender is) came over, looking slightly put off at my appearence.

He was a middle-aged man, with a large moustache that was mostly black, save for a few streaks of grey. He was also completely bald. Still, he was the most remarkable-looking person here (That wasn't saying much).

I began to speak, but stopped when I heard the sound of screaming outside. Quickly, I rushed out of the door, only to see people running. It was just an absolute _horde_ of people, screaming as they stampeded away.

Of course, I went in the direction they came from. This was interesting, whatever it was.

I arrived at the scene pretty quickly. It was in the town square. There was one person surrounded by gaurds. I was too far away to see what exactly happened, but I _did_ see one of the gaurds go flying.

Shit hit the fan almost immediately. In seconds, the gaurds were just destroyed. Maybe interfering was a bad idea.

...

...

...

Fuck it.

"Hey!" I yelled, sprinting towards the commotion. I stopped a few yards away from the mystery individual.

She had scaly, light green skin. That's all I could really see. She was mostly covered in armor, and had a _massive_ sword.

She turned to me. Her eyes widened for a moment, before her expression became a mix of caution and confusion.

"I didn't know there were any necromancers around here." She said, slowly getting into a fighting stance.

"There's no necromancer." I groaned. "I am _not_ getting into this conversation again."

She paused at that.

"Who else did you have a conversation about necromancers with?" She asked.

"A lamia. Think her name was Alice." I said.

The monster's eyes widened, before narrowing. She eyed me with a suspicious gaze.

"This Alice, what did she look like?" She asked.

"Uh... She had purple skin, as well as silver hair, and a tail that was... Red? I think?" I said/questioned.

Of course, I was playing up my confusion. I didn't know who this lady was, but it seemed that I should be careful around her.

Her eyes widened yet again.

"Did anything happen?" She asked. Her tone of voice was kinda threatning.

Without thinking, I rambled off about how she nearly killed me, and whatnot.

_Wait... Did I just?_

Shit.

Welp, caution to the wind. Maybe this won't be so bad.

My hopes were dashed when I saw her expression.

Truly, I'd fucked up.

"Hey now, let's talk this out." I said nervously.

"You have made an enemy of the monster lord, and as such, you've made an enemy of me." She declared. "I, Granberia, the Heavenly Knight of Fire, will strike you down!"

Welp, time to die.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed so far.**


	6. Return Of Voorhees, Also Other Things

**A/N: Here's chapter 6. Enjoy.**

"Let's not be so hasty. We don't ha-ACK" I began, before she _**PUNCHED**_ me, which sent me flying. I smashed through the wall of a building, completely destroying its supporting pillars. I had just enough time to sit up, before the roof caved in, burying me in the rubble.

Slowly, I shifted around, carefully excavating myself from the debris. After I'd made a sizeable hole, I peeked my head out to see what was going on.

Granberia had seemingly forgotten about me, as she was currently fighting the town gaurds. Well, "fight" wasn't the right word. She was metaphorically handing them their own asses on a silver platter, cooked to perfection.

To say I was angry would be an understatement. This _bitch_ had the nerve to fight people who were so much weaker than her? She was beating the shit out of gaurds that were just defending their home! My body shook with rage at the sight.

She'd tried to _kill_ me! I hadn't even _done_ anything to her, and she tried to fucking kill me!

In my anger, I didn't notice the hazy spots in my vision until it was far too late. I slapped myself in an attempt to stay awake, but it was no use. My vision faded quickly, my mind trailing swiftly behind.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Jason Voorhees rose from the destroyed building, glaring daggers at his attacker. She'd had the nerve to hurt him?

His mother was going to be displeased.

With that thought in mind, he crept behind the evil dragon woman, determined to end her. He'd been dormant up until this very moment, until she'd awoken him. Perhaps the reason for his awakening was to kill her. That seemed like a mission his mother would assign him.

Jason wanted to make his mother proud.

Gripping his machete, his eyes scanned the woman's armor, looking for anyplace that wasn't covered. He noticed a thin line at her waist, between the plated segments of armor. With all the power he could muster, he dashed forward, seeking to impale her in one swift thrust.

The machete struck true, digging somewhat deep into her flesh. Annoyingly though, the wound wasn't deep enough to be fatal.

The dragon lady whirled around, enraged at her unseen assailant. Jason didn't give her time to strike, punching her in the side of the head.

She blindly clawed out, slashing deep into Jason's torso with her claws, which sent him sprawling across the ground.

She rose to her full height, drawing her sword. With a loud war cry, she charged at him with incredible speed, seeking to take his head off his shoulders. Seeing this, Jason rolled to the left. He wasn't fast enough to completely escape harm, though. His arm had been split open, and was oozing blackish pus.

He was given no reprieve from her assault, as she charged him again, faster than last time.

Before Jason could dodge, the woman had run her sword right through his chest. However, in doing this, she didn't think he'd still be able to move after he was impaled. It was a foolish mistake.

His hands latched around her left forearm, gripping as tightly as he could. The metal quickly gave way, bending into an odd shape as he crushed her arm.

Desperately, the lady delivered a swift uppercut with her other arm, sending the slasher flying off her sword. He landed on the ground with a large thud, unmoving.

As he drifted into unconciousness, his only thoughts were that his mother would be disappointed in him.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Granberia stared at her injured limb, swearing under her breath. Her armor had been severly warped, jutting into her arm. Blood flowed in rather large quantities, staining the ground. She'd underestimated her opponent, that was for sure. Of course, she could still fight.

A purple-haired boy approached her, sword in hand. She sighed, and turned to him, wielding her sword one-handed. She wasn't looking forward to this. She disliked holding back.

_***LINEBREAK***_

I felt woozy as i regained counciousness, probably because of the massive gaping hole in my chest. Why was it there? What happened to me?

My thoughts were cut off as I saw Luka fly past me, charging at Granberia, who... Was injured?

_What happened to her?_

Her left arm was a mess of bent armor that was bleeding profusely. Even still, she was beating him with almost no effort. Her attention was entirely on him. It was almost like I wasn't there.

I decided that the best course of action was to get the hell out of there.

I ran as fast as I could, only stopping once the city was far behind me. Then, I collapsed beside a tree, content to rest there until my wounds healed.

As I sat there, I reflected on the events that had just transpired. One minute, I was buried under rubble, with only my head sticking out. And then, suddenly, I'm on the ground, several feet from the destroyed building, with wounds that previously didn't exist. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember what happened in between those two events.

Granberia had been injured, but I doubted I was physically capable of harming her. Still, there was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I couldn't quite dismiss.

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud scream. From down the road, someone was yelling for help.

In an instant, I was on my feet. That scream sounded like a _child_, and it chilled me to the bone as I ran.

As I came upon the scene, I knew what was going on.

To my left, cowering in fear, was a young boy, about the age of 7. He was sobbing, pleading with his assailant.

To my right, was the earthworm-girl from earlier. She had this sickening leer on her face, a look which just screamed "rape". Behind her, was a naked man on the ground. He wasn't breathing.

The things she said to the child were absolutely vile, and before I realized what I was doing, I leaped forward, roaring in anger.

She turned around, wide-eyed, panic on her face. She was obviously scared.

_She has a right to be._

She lashed out at me with her tail, thinking me to be as weak as the common human. I suprised her by grabbing the tail, and wrenching it towards me, dragging her closer. Then, with a grunt, I slung her into a tree, head first.

She got up quickly, and turned to face me.

Her face was riddled with cuts and scrapes, which were steadily leaking crimson. The panic on her face had grown exponentially, which, for some reason, made me smile.

I jumped at her, arms outstreched. I caught her by the shoulders, and headbutted her with all my might. Her face caved in, shattering the front of her skull. Somehow, she was still alive.

Boy, did she scream. Her tail convulsed, swinging wildly as she shrieked.

So, I headbutted her again.

The noise was akin to blowing one of those high-pressured air containers directly into a container of pudding, a sound that left me feeling somewhat giddy.

I unceremoniously dropped the corpse, inspecting my handywork.

Her face was sunken in, having lost its shape. Blood was pouring from the mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. The eyes themselves had become mushed, drooping in the holes that were once eyesockets.

Somewhere in the chaos, she seemed to have bitten her tounge off.

I chuckled at the corpse, tossing it aside.

Maybe I should feel bad, but I don't. That felt _good._ Maybe my behavior was a little odd, but I didn't care at the time. She deserved it, threatning kids--

_SHIT! THE KID!_

I turned around, but he was gone.

I sighed, annoyed.

I turned to the man's corpse. He was probably the kid's father, or something similar. Looking at him made me angry again. Thoughtlessly, I stomped on the worm-girl's corpse, shattering its ribs.

Shaking my head, I turned, and started walking back towards the city. Maybe Granberia had left by then.

**A/N:** **This one's a bit short, but I'm tired, and want to go to sleep.**

**Hope you've enjoyed so far.**


	7. Getting Jobs, Getting Spotted

**A/N: I'm back. Might not be able to update for a while, so... Yeah.**

**Let's begin****.**

The sun was high in the sky by the time I'd arrived back at the city. Granberia was gone, so I continued on my mission to find work.

I sat myself at the bar, waving at the bartender. He came over to me, asking what I needed.

"Sorry to bother you with this," I replied. "But I'm looking for work, and I don't have any leads."

"The job board is over on the left." He said, pointing at it

I thanked him, before walking over to said board. There were a _lot_ of jobs that people needed done, it seemed.

I scanned the mass of paper with my eyes, looking for something that stood out to me.Eventually, my eyes reached a job for a caravan. They needed security, but apparently hadn't been able to find anyone.

_That sounds right up my alley..._

I ripped the paper from the board, and stepped out of the tavern.

The city itself was a simple grid system, so navigating it was no issue.

The directions on the paper took me to a large, stone building. On its side, was a billboard that read "Crimson Caravan".

...

_..._

_..._

That sounds familiar.

Stepping inside, I noticed a man sitting at a desk. I assumed he was a receptionist, or something else of that nature. I held up the paper.

"Uhh... I'm here for the job." I said, handing the paper to the receptionist.

He sneered in disgust as he took it from my hand. After reading the paper, he pointed down a hallway.

"Third office on the left." He said.

"Thanks." I muttered, walking away.

The building seemed organized, like an office building from the era just before desktop computors. It was kind of creepy, to be honest.

I knocked on the door, wanting to be polite.

"Come in." A muffled voice grumbled.

I gently opened the door, waving at the man inside. I was _absolutely_ going to suck up to my potential employer. That's how jobs worked, right?

"Hello, sir." I said. "I came to inquire about a job that you'd advertised."

He was an older man of about average height, with a stocky build. It was obvious that there was a point that he'd been in shape, but that time had long since passed. His mostly grey hair was short, and patchy.

He looked me up and down, raising an eyebrow.

"You sure you're right for this?" He asked cautiously.

"The job said you needed security." I stated. "I think I can do that." I said.

"You're not just trying to find an excuse to get captured by monster girls, are you?" He asked, his eyes narrowed.

Wait... People do that? Can't they just... Go outside? Why do they need excuses. Hell, if I could still feel anything down there, I would've given myself up _immediately_.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, that was _not_ an option.

"No sir." I said. "I'm just trying to make an honest living."

He thought for a moment, considering wether or not to hire me.

"Well, you are intimidating-looking." He said. "Monsters might get scared off by your appearence alone."

I wasn't sure if that was an insult or a compliment. I hoped it was the latter.

"What _is_ with your body, anyways?" He asked. "You look rotten."

"Skin disease." I lied. "Not contagious."

"Well, then I guess that's it. The caravan leaves in a couple days." He said.

"I'll be there." I said.

He nodded.

Job: aquired.

That seemed _way_ too easy.

_***LINEBREAK***_

I took a walk around the city, trying to learn where everything was. I stood out in crowds, no doubt. I was a head taller than pretty much everyone else around me. Considering the fact that I used to be of average height, it was a pretty weird experience to be nearly seven feet tall.

My casual meander through the city was interrupted by one of the most disgusting things I'd ever seen.

The... _**Thing**_ had no arms. It was just legs, a torso, and a snake head.

I know I sound hypocritical when I say that, but fuck, man, it was hideous.

It stared at me for a moment, before running in a different direction. I followed her with my eyes, watching her run right towards... Luka?

Alice was beside him, gazing intently at a food stall. She looked... different. Her skin was a normal color, and she had human legs. Still, there was no mistaking that it was her.

The _**thing**_ nudged its head in my direction. Luka's eyes traced their way over to me. They widened when they saw me. He poked Alice, and then pointed at me, saying words I couldn't hear.

She turned, and coldly stared at me. Quickly, she began walking towards me.

I hastily decided it was time to _nope_ the fuck out of there.

I picked a random direction, and started walking. I couldn't run, for fear of looking suspicious,.but she was gaining on me.

It turned around, but didn't see her.

_Uh oh..._

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked, her voice flat, with threatening tones hidden behind it.

_New plan! Don't say anything stupid!_

"Oh, you know..." I said. "Places."

She sighed. Without further warning, she grabbed my wrist and started dragging me.

I tugged against her, trying to break her grip, but she was _scary_ strong.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I whispered fearfully.

"Relax." She said. "I just wanna talk."

I didn't feel relaxed.

Luka walked up to us, an angry look on his face.

"You." He said.

He was obviously not happy to see me. Awkwardly, I waved at him with one arm, the other still trapped in Alice's deathgrip.

"Hello, small child." I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

It didn't work. He sighed, and walked off angrily.

Before I could say anything else, Alice started dragging me away.

The near future was going to _suck_, for sure.

**A/N: sorry for taking so long to update. Stuff has happened in real life, so I won't be able to update nearly as frequently. Sorry about that.**

**Rest assured however, that this story is _not_ dead. I will update eventually.**

**Hope you've enjoyed so far.**


	8. A Bounty

**A/N: I'm back. Not much to say.**

**Enjoy.**

Quickly, Alice led me through the city, pulling me with a force that even I couldn't match. I tugged against her, trying to escape, but she didn't even notice.

Eventually, she led me to a large building. It was probably the most glamorous building in the entire town, certainly a place that I'd never hope to afford.

She stomped into the building, up the stairs, and into one of the rooms. She then threw me onto the floor, and locked the door behind her.

The room itself was beautiful, with an elegant splendor that I'd never seen before in real life. The carpet was a striking shade of red, and the walls were lined with strange and complex patterns of brown and gold.

The furniture was made of some of the finest wood, and the bed was an extravagant mass of radically expensive linens.

None of this mattered to me however, because I was too buzy getting stared down by Alice.

Her eyes bored into me with a ferocity that I'd expected, but was still wildly unprepared for.

"So... Is this about the zombie thing?" I asked warily.

She sighed, her angered expression changing into one that was more exasperated than anything else.

"Actually..." She said. "After further investigation, I've found that intelligent zombies are already possible."

YAY! Now she hopefully won't kill me.

"However, I still consider you a criminal." She said flatly.

Shit.

That was bad. That was _really _bad.

"...why?" I asked.

She facepalmed. Muttering under her breath, she glared at me.

"Are you really that clueless?" She asked, her voice tinted with suppressed rage.

I shrugged, unsure of what she was referring to.

"You broke Granberia's wrist!" She yelled.

What.

"W-what are you talking about?" I inquired, startled by her sudden outburst.

"Don't play dumb with me!" She roared. "You crushed her wrist! She had to be rushed to a healer!"

My mind flickered back to my escape. One of her hands had been hanging limply, pouring blood from under the armor.

I didn't remember doing that. Frantically, I searched in my mind for an answer, but I couldn't find any memory of that. There was a clear gap between getting punched into the building, and waking up to escape.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like she would believe me. So, talking her down was my only option.

This was _not_ going to end well.

"S-surely, a broken wrist isn't such a serious wound." I said sheepishly.

"You idiot!" She yelled. "She would've been crippled if she hadn't gotten it fixed! It never would've healed properly!"

She was getting angrier by the second, and nothing I could say would calm her down.

Okay, new plan! Tell the truth.

"I don't even remember what you're talking about!" I exclaimed. "I literally don't even know what you're speaking of!"

Alice stared at me, her face twisted into an enraged scowl.

"She attacked me! That was self defense!" I said.

"She wouldn't have fought you if you hadn't intervened!" She said.

"She was beating up the gaurds, what did you expect me to do?" I questioned.

She clenched her fists. The tempature seemed to raise by a few degrees, not that I could tell.

"Oh, now you care!" She spat. "Where was that compassion in our earlier encounter?"

"The hell are you on about?" I nearly yelled.

She sighed, composing herself.

"You said you didn't care if people got hurt." She said. "So why do you care now?" The anger was still there, but it was subdued.

My mind blanked. I didn't have a reason to give her.

I didn't really care at all, I was just trying to save my own skin.

I don't even think I was actually mad when she attacked those gaurds. I was probably just looking for an excuse to fight her.

Apathy, what a thing it was.

I wasn't gonna talk my way out of the situation. I think we both knew that. So, I did the next best thing.

I bolted.

I ran through the door, shattering it under my own weight. Clumsily, I tumbled down the stairs, not at all caring about my appearance.

I ran past Luka, who scoffed at my presence.

What the hell did I do to him?

On a normal day, I would've stopped to mock him, or something else like that. However, I did _not_ want to be caught by Alice, so I just sprinted past him.

I caught a few strange looks as I barreled down the street, but I didn't care at the moment.

Finally, after a while, I stopped in an allyway, and hid behind some boxes.

I sat there for a while, unmoving. It was probably unnecessary, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

While I was hiding, I realized something. She had _let_ me escape. She could've killed me on the spot, but she hadn't. Why not?

Did she not want to blow her cover? That seemed reasonable. Maybe though, she just wanted to play a game of cat and mouse.

That thought terrified me. I couldn't fight her, not as I was.

Eventually, I figured it was safe, and so I got up, and walked away.

The sun had just about set when I left town. I had a job to do, but that wasn't for a while. I still had a day or so.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Ilias was an ancient being.

She'd seen heroes come and go, nations rise and fall, and the absolute worst of humanity.

But for the first time in eons, Ilias was confused.

Just who was the strange rotten man?

She'd been watching Luka when he first appeared. At the time, he seemed like just another heretical abomination, not worth her time.

The creature had illicited quite the outburst from The Monster Lord, which gained an unexpected chuckle from the goddess.

And then he died.

Oh well, he wasn't important anyways.

Soon after, the storm came. Luka and Alice had made camp somewhat close to the corpse.

Ilias did _not_ like that woman anywhere near Luka.

She'd just been about to deactivate her scrying spell, when a bolt of lightning flashed, striking somewhere in the forest. Something was off about it.

Ilias adjusted her spell to see what it had hit. To her shock, the lightning had revived the creature!

She studied the zombie-like being, deciding he was more important than she'd first thought. So, she sent out one of her angels to spy on it.

Ilias was too busy watching Luka, after all.

_***LINEBREAK***_

I was sitting on a large rock in the middle of a small lake. The water was cool blue, and crystal clear. There were many fish swimming around, some of which I'd never seen before.

The forest surrounded the lake, creating a thick barrier which prevented me from seeing further.

Day had given way to night, and the stars shimmered like diamonds in the sky. The moon was full, illuminating the earth below. It was a beautiful night.

So, of course, someone just _had_ to ruin it.

"HEY!" Yelled a voice.

I turned my head towards its origin. There, by the dock, were four dark elves. Two had swords, and the other two were archers.

They did _not_ look happy to see me.

"WHAT?" I yelled back. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"YOU!" One screamed.

What the fuck?!

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" I asked, hoping I'd misheard.

"YOU HAVE A BOUNTY ON YOUR HEAD!" Another said.

Oh. _That's_ what they meant. Alright, that makes s-

_**WAIT WHAT DID SHE SAY?!**_

"W-WHAT?" I asked. "WHY?"

They didn't answer. Instead, they just began firing at me. The two swordswomen just stood there, pretending they were useful.

The arrows pierced my clothes, but not my skin. I sighed, and flopped into the water.

I didn't have to breathe, it seemed, so I was just fine underwater.

Unfortunately, I also couldn't float. So, I walked along the lakebed, slowly making my way over to them.

They seemed surprised when I stepped out from the lake, water pouring out of the holes in my torso.

I looked down at them. They were above average in height, but I still towered over them.

"I'll ask again." I said. "Why do I have a bounty on my head?"

One of the swordswomen handed me a sheet of paper.

It was a _fucking_ wanted poster!

It had a picture of me both with, and without my mask, and it offered a reward for my capture of-

_5,000 gold?! Holy shit!_

Apparently, I was wanted for injuring an important monster.

Did Alice really put a bounty on me?! From my limited knowledge of the game, I knew she probably wouldn't care.

_But this isn't the game._

That realization hit me harder than expected. This was real life! The fact that it was _this_ similar to the game was just incredible coincidence.

"So, you gonna come quietly?" The swordswoman asked. "Or do we have to force you?"

"...Is everything you say supposed to sound rapey?" I asked, unimpressed.

She laughed. It was a rather cute sound, but was ruined by her next few words.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this~" The swordswoman said lewdly.

"...NOPE!" I said, punching her. She flew back into a tree, shattering it.

I pulled out my machete, and took what I thought was a defensive stance.

"Can we not fight and just say we did?" I asked sheepishly.

The other swordswoman lunged at me, intending to impale me through the chest. I blocked it with my machete, and grabbed her wrist. I then chucked her into one of the archers.

She knocked her over, and they both landed in a tangled heap.

The first swordswoman had gotten up from the ground, quickly closing the distance between me and her. She swiped at me, laying open the flesh along my torso, and chipping the exposed bone.

I grabbed her head with both hands and squeezed. She screamed, clawing at my hands. I felt her skull give way, her brain crushed into a fine pulp that splattered the ground.

Tossing the corpse away, I turned to the other three.

Looks of shock and horror adorned their faces.

"MURDERER!" Cried the other swordswoman, charging at me.

I swiped at her with my machete, swiftly cutting through the flesh and bone of her arm, severing it.

She dropped the sword, and clutched her stump, screaming as it sprayed blood.

Quickly, I brought the machete down on her skull, slicing it in two. She slumped to the ground, most assuredly dead.

"And then there were two." I muttered.

One of the archers tried to flee. I noticed this, and with a heave, I threw my machete at her. It impaled her through the chest, pinning her to the ground.

I rounded on the last archer, grabbing her by the wrist. Jerking her towards me, I pulled my other fist back and_** PUNCHED**_ through her chest, destroying her ribcage and shredding her lungs. I grabbed her still-beating heart and ripped it out, before crushing it in front of her.

I tossed the corpse away, and sighed, before retrieving my machete.

That was fun.

**A/N: Here's a chapter for you. I had some free time, so I wrote this. Hope you liked it.**


	9. In Which Jason Takes A Walk

**A/N:****Here's another chapter.**

After the whole bounty hunter debacle, I decided to stay near the city. I doubted that anybody seeking the bounty on my head would look so close to the city. Still, to be safe, I spent most of the night relatively hidden in a ditch. I ripped a few shrubs from the ground, and covered myself with them, almost like a blanket.

Tiredness tugged at the corners of my mind, which was odd, but I didn't think about it at the time. I hadn't felt tired before, so it didn't make sense.

These thoughts were muted as I slipped into unconciousness.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Once again, Jason Voorhees arose from his slumber. He was... More than a little confused about his surroundings. Hadn't he been fighting that dragon wom-

Oh, right. He lost.

His mother was probably displeased. Though, that didn't explain why he couldn't hear her voice. It was... Just gone.

Safe to say, Jason was alarmed, and coupled with his recent loss, he was quite mad.

Quickly, he climbed out of the ditch, gouging out large clumps of dirt with his fingers.

He took out his frustration on a nearby tree, which shattered with a satisfying crack when he punched it. However, it did little to calm him down. If anything, it seemed to rile him up even more.

This wanton tree destruction lasted a few hours, at least. Deafening crashes thundered throughout the forest, as plants were violently torn up into useless pieces of dead foliage.

In his anger, Jason didn't notice someone coming behind him until an arrow whizzed by his head, shooting past him, and into the trees.

He turned around, enraged that someone had just tried to harm him.

Before him stood a normal elf. She had a bow in one hand, and an arrow in the other. She had an annoying air of confidence around her.

"That was a warning shot." She said. "The next one won't miss."

Jason didn't respond to her words, but took a step forward.

True to the elf's word, her next arrow didn't miss, hitting him square in the chest.

Unfortunately for her, it bounced off, landing on the ground.

Jason looked down at it, and then back at her. For a moment, neither of them moved. Then, Jason lunged for her, grabbing her by the throat.

He threw her on the ground, and kicked her in the side, hearing the sound of her ribs giving way. The elf cried out in pain.

Jason stomped down on her chest, further shattering the bones in her torso. He raised his foot up, and brought it down again. Shards of bone stuck through her body, shredding skin and muscle.

The elf let out a shriek of agony. Jason, annoyed by her screams, decided to go ahead and end it.

With lightning-quick speed, he thrust his machete through her neck, severing her spinal cord.

He walked away, leaving her to bleed out.

_***LINEBREAK***_

As Granberia flexed her newly healed wrist, she thought back on the fight that had transpired. Who was that man she fought? Why hadn't she heard of him before?

He'd made himself an enemy of the Monster Lord, so she'd had to act. When she knocked him into the building, she'd thought that was the last of him.

But then he got back up.

He was completely different when he climbed out of the rubble pile. He fought savagely, like an animal. Despite his obvious lack of training, he'd actually managed to hurt her!

Sure, she'd let her gaurd down, but still!

She was still worried about where he went. He was dangerous, that much she was sure of. He couldn't just be allowed to run free.

Alice hadn't given her the order, but she _would_ track down the masked man.

...Maybe she _was_ still a little salty about the wrist thing.

_***LINEBREAK***_

These woods were unfamiliar to Jason, but even so, he didn't feel lost. He could still easily keep a sense of direction, somehow. It was supernatural, almost. Considering the fact that it _is_ Jason Voorhees we're talking about, it probably _was_ some dark form of magic.

He was standing on a hill, gazing upon a town at its base. The town didn't seem all that impressive, in Jason's opinion. It was just a bunch of shoddy buildings cobbled together with scraps of wood. Fields surrounded the town, along with what looked like beehives. He couldn't really tell what they were from the distance.

People were out in the fields, working hard. Upon closer inspection, the workers were almost all women. That was definitely odd. Surely, there'd be at least one man, right?

Jason shook his head. That was irrelevant to his goal.

What was his goal, anyways? Jason wasn't sure, himself. He felt strangely driven, as if he had somewhere to be. Where that place was, Jason didn't know, but he would get there.

He also faced another problem. Should he kill the townspeople, or leave them alone? Certainly, they weren't doing anything wrong. They weren't invading his home, either. Also, his mother was _still_ quiet. She'd let him know if she wished for him to kill them, right?

He legitimately had no reason to harm them.

With his mind made up, he walked towards the village.

He traveled along the main road, deciding not to spend much time in the village.

The pull towards the unknown destination was so strong that he almost physically felt it. Unconciously, he sped up until he was almost sprinting, nearly knocking a few people over.

He exited the village rather quickly, entering the forest. He trampled the underbrush that had grown over the path. It was obvious that nobody had used it in a long time. That didn't make sense. The excessive foliage only started about a mile from the village.

He continued onwards, slowing down a bit. Eventually, he noticed small houses in the trees. The trees themselves were massive, so they easily supported the weight of each abode. Trailing down the trunks, small ladders led upwards into the branches. Jason idly wondered if they would support his weight, as they looked so flimsy.

He began to notice things as he moved further. Large, feathery figures watched him from the skies. They seemed to be a mix of humans and birds.

Jason's ponderings about the creatures were cut off, as he heard a noise. It was one he'd been aquainted with many times, and he despised it.

Emanating from a nearby treehouse, were the sounds of sex. Jason's hands shook angrily. His mother had taught him that such acts were evil, and should be purged. He had to interfere, as it was his duty.

With a fervor that most reserve for religious matters, he climbed the tree. Using his machete, he quickly worked his way up to the top.

He walked through the closed door, breaking it into pieces. As soon as he entered, he spotted them. One of the bird creatures was doing the _unspeakable_ with a human.

He pulled her off of him, by the wings. With little effort, he tore them completely off, leaving bits of splintered bone and torn muscle.

She screamed, and tried to run, but Jason grabbed her. With one hand, he gripped her head. With the other, he smashed out a window, leaving jagged bits of glass on the bottom, near the windowsill.

He slammed her throat down onto the glass, turning her screams into coughs and other such noises. He then threw her out the window.

Turning to the man, Jason was surprised to see a chair rocketing towards his face. It broke against him, not affecting in the slightest.

The man, now weaponless, tried to run. Jason kicked him onto his back, and slammed his machete down onto his stomach, laying open his torso, as well as slicing through the organs. He picked it up, and brought it down again. Jason repeated the process a few more times, splattering blood everywhere.

The man had died at some point, but Jason wasn't done. He forced his fist into the hole in the corpse's body, grabbing a fistful of intestines. He threw them around the place, adding to the gore factor.

Jason took a moment to admire his handywork, before deciding that his job was done. However, when he got back down on the ground, he was confronted by a group of three bird-people. These ones wore armor, and seemed disciplined.

"Sir." One of them said. "You were spotted entering a building that you had no business to be in. I'm going to have to place you under arrest."

He tilted his head. Really? They thought they could contain him.

Before anything else could be said, another armored bird-person flew towards them, coming from the direction of the house.

"CAPTAIN!" She shouted, referring to one of the creatures in the group. "IT'S A BLOODY MESS IN THERE!"

"What?!" The one in front exclaimed.

"There's guts everywhere!" Screamed the approaching bird-human. "He killed them both!"

At that last claim, the creatures all readied their weapons. Jason grabbed his machete, and sighed.

Of course they had to discover it.

As one of them charged, he guessed he had to fight them, too.

In an exasperated manner, he ran towards his opponents.

**A/N: Another chapter in the bag. I had fun with this one.**


	10. The Harpy Village Incident

**A/N: We're at chapter 10, but Luka hasn't even touched happiness village yet. Am I going too slow? I have no earthly idea.**

**On with the thing!**

Clarissa had been a gaurd at the Harpy Village for many years. In that time, she'd dealt with many unorthadox situations, such as bar fights, rowdy children, adventurers, ETC. She prided herself on being the most experienced in gaurding the town.

But nothing could have ever prepared her for the sight laid before her.

The man's torso had been slashed open, multiple cuts blending together to form a single, rough-looking gash. Long, bloody ropes of intestine were strewn around the place. They laid on the floor, stuck to the walls, and hung from the rafters.

And the smell. Oh god, the smell! It was a coppery, fecal smell that left her light-headed.

A pair of harpy wings laid on the floor. Bits of bone and strings of tattered muscle shot out from the ends. They'd likely been torn off.

Clarissa noticed a bloody, shattered window, and, with trepidation in her heart, peered out of it, staring at the ground. Sure enough, the remains of a harpy was splattered on the ground. If they weren't dead when their wings were ripped off, then the fall most certainly killed them. The impact force had turned their body into a mass of bloody meat and bone.

Who could've done this? Not only was it morally fucked up, but it also required a lot of physical srength. Ripping a harpy's wings off wasn't something any normal human could do.

She needed to tell the captain.

_***LINEBREAK**__**... Also back to present time.***_

The first one, a spearman, it seemed, lunged for him, seeking to end it right there. How could she even hold a spear? She had no hands.

This was a question that Jason would file in the back of his mind to ponder at a later time, as he was currently being attacked.

He grabbed the spear, and wrenched it out of her hands. With a thrust, he rammed it through her torso, completely bypassing any armor she'd been wearing. It exited through her back, dragging her stomach with it.

He kicked her towards the other charging bird-people. One of them jumped over it, but the other was knocked over.

He jolted forwards suddenly, knocked off-balance by something. He turned around, and saw the bird-lady who'd come from the house. How had he forgotten about her?!

Somewhere, in the depths of hell, Pamela Voorhees facepalmed. At least, that's what Jason imagined.

Evidently, she'd tried to stab him with a sword. The blade had broken on contact, and she was holding only the broken handle. The jagged ends were sharp, Jason noted.

Quickly, he tore it from her grasp, and ran it along her throat, slicing it open. Great spurts of blood poured from the wound, running down her body, forming little watefalls of blood as they went. She gasped and choked, clutching at her throat.

And then Jason punched her in the face, hard. So hard, in fact, that her head left her body entirely, hitting a nearby tree. It splattered like an overripe tomato.

The remaining two had backed off, deciding to play it safe. Whenever he'd attack, they flew back.

Jason, more than a little annoyed by this, decided to try something else.

He came at her again. This time though, when she flew up into the air, he jumped, grabbing her by the ankle. She struggled, trying hard to break free. She was no match however, and that soon became apparent.

Without any semblance of mercy, he viciously slammed her body into the ground. The crack of her bones breaking echoed throughout the forest. She screamed, both in terror and in pain.

Jason stamped down on her wing, rendering it useless. Sharp bits of bone stuck out at odd angles, dying her feathers red.

The final bird-person jumped into the air, attempting to flee. Without a second thought, he tossed his machete, aiming for her torso.

It lodged itself in between her lungs, not hitting anything vital. She fluttered for a moment, and fell.

Grabbing her by the hair, he dragged her over to her comrade.

Using the body of the impaled one, he savagely brought her down onto the other. Snaps and screams filled the air, along with occasional gouts of blood.

Jason quickly grew bored of the creatures. In a display of strength, he ripped the skull from one of them, spine intact. He the used his new weapon to impale the other one, finally killing her.

Blood stained the grass, marring the beauty of this once-peaceful place. One creature's eyeball had popped out at one point, swaying back and forth from the socket like a demented pendulum.

He grabbed his machete, and walked away, leaving the bodies in a broken heap.

_**"YOU!"**_

Jason swiveled around, facing whoever had just spoken.

Another bird-woman stood before him. She was different though. She wore elegant clothing, and had a kind regal atmosphere surrounding her.

"What kind of creature are you? How can you just so callously murder anyone in such a brutal fashion?" She asked, barely contained fury behind her words.

Jason said nothing, and continued staring at her, regarding her as nothing more than another potential kill. He wasn't outright hostile, since she wasn't sinful, and hadn't threatened him yet.

"You've killed my subjects, and I cannot let that slide!" She exclaimed, her wings opening to their full length. "I am the Harpy Queen, and by my authority, I sentence you to death!"

Jason's eyes widened as he felt a sudden burst of power radiate from her being. It was not dissimilar from the dragon lady.

That comparison angered Jason. He'd lost to the dragon, but he would not lose to a bird!

He unsheathed his machete, and leapt forward.

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry that this chapter is so short, but I had to get it out.**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


	11. A Royal Brawl, And Divine Intervention

**A/N: NEW CHAPTER YAY!**

He unsheathed his machete, and leapt forward.

The Queen dodged, kicking off into the air. She flew up into the sky. Was she running away?

Jason took aim with his machete. However, before he could toss it, she sped down from the heavens, falling like a meteor. She crashed into him with a vicious kick. The hit would have have liquified a normal man, but all it did to Jason was send him sprawling.

The Queen wasn't done however. As she landed, she sped forwards, diving into him. Jason was flung into a tree, snapping it in two.

He rolled across the ground, quickly skidding to a stop. He grabbed for his machete, only to realize it wasn't there. Looking up, he saw it on the ground in front of the Harpy Queen. She seemed to inspect it for a second, before shooting towards him once more.

Jason dodged left, and dashed for his machete. He got about halfway to it when the Queen slammed into his side, flinging him into the air again.

He smashed into the side of a hill with enough force to simulate a small explosion. Dirt was thrown everywhere.

Jason was getting mad. This wasn't how things were supposed to go! He was _supposed_ to win!

Quickly, he jumped from the crater. He saw the Queen diving towrds him once more. She was going faster than anything else Jason had ever seen.

But... Perhaps he could use that to his advantage.

As she hurtled towards him, nearing the speed of sound, time seemed to slow. Jason stood there, nearly motionless.

And then, he jumped out of the way. The Queen was going too fast to change directions, and crashed into the hill.

He was on her before the dust had even begun to settle. He punched, kicked, headbutted, and otherwise bludgeoned her.

She tried to headbutt him, but he grabbed her by the hair, and slammed her head into the ground. Once, twice, three times. He tried for a fourth, but was sent tumbling when something crashed into him.

Furiously, he turned his head to see who dared to interrupt the fight, fully prepared to rip someone in two. His eyes widened when he saw who it was.

The dragon woman stood beside the Queen, a cold glare fixed onto his form.

If he'd still had a beating heart, it would've stopped.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Granberia was _angry._ When she arrived at the village, she didn't expect to see any dismembered harpies. Unfortunately, that is exactly what she witnessed. Of course, she'd seen death before, but this was just... Too much. How could any being be so ruthless? To her, it seemed like something that Ilias, that _bitch_, would do. Was he a follower? It was certainly possible.

As she rushed towards the sounds of battle, she reflected on the events of the past day.

As soon as her wrist was healed, she began to chase after him. Finding him was easier than expected. He wasn't exactly... Subtle. She questioned a few people in happiness village, and they pointed her in the right direction.

As she drew closer, she could hear the Harpy Queen's groans of pain.

With a substantial amount of force, Granberia punched the brute, knocking him away.

"No more running." She said.

_***LINEBREAK***_

There was an itch at the back of Jason's mind, and he swore that he heard a distant: "OH FUCK!" from somewhere.

He couldn't fight them both. He knew that much.So, with an unaudible sigh, he turned, and sprinted away.

"**I SAID NO _RUNNING_****!"** Roared the Dragon woman.

With a speed that Jason clearly didn't expect, she crashed into him. He dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, idly noticing that she'd just severed his spinal chord. The Dragon woman was a blur, tearing into him with her sword, quickly reducing him into simple meaty chunks.

There was no way to fight her off, and Jason soon succumbed to unconciousness.

Unfortunately for her, Granberia didn't completely destroy the body.

_***LINEBREAK***_

...

...

...

Where the hell am I?

It was dark, and I couldn't hear anything. I tried to move, but there was some resistance. It was odd, as if I was covered by some durable cloth.

That _was_ just a guess though. I wasn't sure what was on me because I STILL COULDN'T FEEL THINGS.

I punched through whatever was keeping me held down. Light flooded my vision as I caught sight of my surroundings.

I was underwater. The thing keeping me restrained was a bag.

...

What?

Quickly, I tore it to ribbons, exposing more of myself to the water.

When I saw myself, I sighed. I was in _several_ pieces. Most of my upper torso and arms had healed. However, everything below the ribs were still just pieces of flesh.

"FUCK!" I exclaimed angrily. This was going to take a while.

So for hours, I laid under the water, waiting for my body to stop being a shitty jigsaw puzzle.

The sun had nearly set by the time I was whole again.

So, I climbed out of the lake, and took stock of my surroundings. I was in a clearing, on the shore of a lake (as previously mentioned.).

How did I get here? Why was I in a bag? Why was I in _pieces_ in a bag? These were all very important questions, I felt. This was the _second_ time I've woken up injured with no explanation as to why, and that, in my opinion, is pretty concerning, to say the least.

Come to think of it, last time this happened, I was accused of something I had no recollection of...

Holy shit.

HOLY _**SHIT**_!

What did I do?

WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO?!

Something must have happened, otherwise I wouldn't have been chopped up and thrown into a lake. I must've done something terrible.

With an angry roar, I tore into everything around me. Trees, plants, dirt, and animals, none of which were spared from my wrath. What happened?! Why couldn't I remember? WHY COULDN'T I _**FUCKING**_ REMEMBER?!

I'd worked myself up into a frenzy, smashing up everything in sight.

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!" I screamed. "FUCKING _BULLSHIT_!"

Why was I even here in the first place?! What took me from my home, and brought me here? Would I ever go home again?

Would I ever see my family again?

I dropped to my knees, and screamed to the heavens. It was a primal, savage roar, filled with anger. All my pent up emotions had suddenly decided to burst. What resulted was a cacophony of sound that was enraged, yes, but also deeply frustrated, and soul-crushingly depressed.

Eventually, most of the anger was replaced with a deep longing. It was longing for my old life. My family, my friends, my house, everything.

I crumpled to the ground, violent sobs racking my body. I knew I'd probably never see anyone else from my old life again. I felt a sense of loneliness stronger than I'd ever experienced, which brought about a new wave of sobs.

I don't know how long I laid there. It could have been minutes, hours, or even days. I was oblivious to everything around me. I was just exhausted. I closed my eyes. Who cared if something happened when I slept. I certainly didn't.

_***LINEBREAK***_

The cupid she'd sent to spy on the creature had returned. That was odd. She hadn't ordered her to come back. Something must have happened then.

"E-excuse me, Lady Ilias?" The cupid asked, nervously fidgeting under the goddess' intense gaze.

"Speak." Ilias said sternly.

"T-t-the man you sent me to watch, well..." The cupid trailed off.

"Well, what is it?" Ilias asked, annoyed. "What reason could you possibly have to disturb me?"

"W-well, you told me to report back whenever something happened." Stated the cupid.

Had she said that? She didn't quite remember. After all, she had been preoccupied with watching Luka.

"Get on with it, then. Don't waste my time." Ilias said.

"S-so, After observing him, I think that he'd be useful to you. He has the ability to regenerate, and he's a brutal fighter. However... He has some... Quirks." The cupid said.

"What do you mean?" Ilias asked, still annoyed, but partly intrigued.

"Well, he sometimes lapses into... Another person. This other personality doesn't speak, and is seemingly more powerful than his talkative counterpart. However, the silent one seems to have some plan that the other doesn't know about." The cupid explained, becoming slightly less nervous.

"Anything else?" Ilias asked.

"The one that talks seems to have had a mental breakdown of sorts. He's upset about something, but I dunno what it is." The cupid finished.

Ilias smiled. It was a fake smile, but it was one she had to use every now and then when her servant's morale was low.

"You've done well." Ilias said.

"R-really?" The cupid asked, stars practically in her eyes.

"Yes. I have no further orders for now." Ilias said.

Quickly, the Cupid left, much happier than before.

Ilias sighed to herself.

"Maybe I'll visit him in his dreams." She thought. "I'll get him onto my side."

With that decision made, she opened a scrying spell, spotting the rotten man almost immediately. He was already asleep, so she didn't need to wait.

Without any further distractions, she made her way into his mind.

_***LINEBREAK***_

It was dark. I couldn't see anything. Was this a dream?

"Oh, brave hero..." An angelic voice rang out. Who was that?

A bright light enveloped my vision. It wasn't threatning, or anything like that. It was warm, and comforting.

"Fear not, for I have been watching over you." The voice said. The voice was soft, yet firm.

"W-who are you?" I asked, confused.

A figure descended from the light. It was graceful, elegant, and beautiful. It was...

Oh. It was Ilias. She sounded so nice, but was definitely evil. I knew that much.

_But what if she wasn't, though?_

I sighed. Maybe giving her a chance wouldn't be so bad.

"Tell me, what troubles you?" She asked. "What is it that makes a warrior such as yourself cry?"

...

How the fuck do I answer that? Do I lie? Would she believe me?

Eh, I'll tell most of the truth.

"I am... Stranded from my family. They are in a place I cannot reach." I said.

Ilias nodded sympathetically.

"That is a shame." She said. "Though, I might be able to help both of you."

"Both? What are you talking about?" I asked, incredulous.

"You don't know? Well, there is another soul in your body." Ilias explained

"W-what?!" I nearly screamed. Why didn't I know this? That sounded important.

Maybe _that_ was the cause of my memory gaps.

"I could help the both of you." She repeated. "But to do that, you'd need to help me."

She was bullshitting me. She wouldn't help me. She'd dispose me as soon as she could.

_But what if she wasn't lying?_

...

Would she be truthful? I don't know, I never got to play more than ten minutes of the game.

Well, truthful or not, I had no choice to believe her. I couldn't enlist Alice's help. That ship had long since sailed.

"I'm listening, my goddess." I said. I winced internally when I said that. I was religious (not gonna talk about that here), but she was most definitely _not_ part of that.

Ilias smiled. It was a radiant one, so brilliant in its beauty that I almost couldn't look away.

"You must travel onwards to Sentora. There is a blasphemous cult within the desert that worships monsters. Purge them from this earth, so they can no longer spread their filth." She commanded.

"I shall do as you wish." I said. "But, if it wouldn't be so rude of me, I would like to inquire about their exact location."

"Very well." Ilias said. "They live near the ancient pyramids of Sabasa. Every night, they chant demonic incantations, screaming for all to hear. If you travel by darkness, you'll surely hear them."

"Thank you, my goddess." I said.

"Now, go forth, brave hero! Go forth and cleanse these heathens from the face of the world!" She urged.

Slowly, she faded away, until only darkness remained.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Ilias smirked to herself as she left the man's mind. Finally, she had someone who could take care of her more minor problems. She couldn't use angels, of course, because she had to keep up appearances. The man would just be passed off as a psychopath, or some crazy religious guy who lives alone in the woods, something like that. Perhaps he could convince Luka that monsters are evil? Oh, she'd reward him for that.

Honestly, she didn't expect him to actually agree. He didn't seem to worship her, but she couldn't know for sure. In her impossibly long life, she'd learned how to read human emotions quite easily. However, she just couldn't tell anything about how he felt. He lacked a mask in the dream world (His face itself was just downright blasphemy.), but his face betrayed no emotion. He lacked any sort of body language as well. The only time she got any emotion out of him was when she mentioned the other soul within his body. He was shocked. It was apparent that he had no idea what she was talking about.

But why didn't he know? It seemed odd that he wouldn't be aware. Having another soul in your body probably came with a slew of noticable side-affects. And yet, he had no clue.

Ah, but this didn't matter. He was her pawn, and he'd do as he was told. Of course, she'd be nice with him. She had an image to protect, of course. Maybe she'd actually help him, if he was obedient.

As she ascended back to her realm, she realized something.

"Did I not get his name?" She thought.

_***LINEBREAK***_

The past few days had been downright awful for Luka.

The bandit situation had been handled decently. None of the kids were hurt, and they managed to get along with everyone in Iliasburg. It was a really good outcome, all things considered.

Things quickly changed for the worse after he went to happiness village, though.

After hearing of the village's troubles, he decided to confront the harpy queen herself. After all, he couldn't stand by as such injustices were being carried out. He was a hero, and it was his job to protect the innocent! Alice had also wanted to go to the harpy village, for some reason.

When they got there, Luka could instantly tell that something was off. The atmosphere was cold, and he could practically feel the residents' fear. He spotted a few gaurds, but they didn't react to his presence. Their expressions were just... Distant. They had the 1000 yard stare, and they had it _bad._

Just what happened? Why were they so horrified? Neverending questions filled Luka's mind.

Eventually, they found a tree house that looked fancier. Outside of it, were two more shell-shocked guards.

"What happened here?" Luka asked, curious about the whole situation.

The guard's eyes snapped onto him, looking him over. When she determined that he wasn't any threat, she visibly sagged.

The guard let out a shuddery breath, looking like she hadn't slept in a few days.

"I...It killed so many. Most of our town guard is dead." She said, her voice shaking.

"Who? Who did it?" Luka asked, concerned.

"S-s-some kind of creature. It was merciless, and brutal... There was so much blood... Oh gods..." The guard rasped, on the verge of sobbing.

"H-hey! It's okay now." Luka said, attempting to comfort her.

"Y-yeah." She said with a small smile. "At least it's dead now."

Luka raised his eyebrows. So the creature was dead. That sounded good, but what _was_ it? Every question that was answered just brought about even more questions!

Either way, he had a job to do.

Finding the queen was pretty easy. He asked the guard for help, and she pointed him straight to her.

The queen Harpy was heavily injured. Bandages were wrapped around the top of her head, and around her torso. They were soaked wit blood.

He (politely) asked her about Happiness village's men.

"...The harpies were a dying race. We _needed_ to breed so we could ensure our species' future." She explained. "Drastic measures had to be taken."

"But you took them all..." Luka trailed off.

So, after a day of trying to convince the Harpy Queen, he decided to get the towns to meet.

The Harpies, still affected by the recent slaughter, were either unable or unwilling to put up a fight. They were going to just let the men go, but someone had an idea. They suggested that the two villages combine into one. Everyone seemed happy with that idea, so they went through with it.

It made Luka really happy to see coexistence such as this. Surely, if it could happen here, it could happen anywhere else, right?

Still though, what killed so many harpies? Alice also seemed concerned about that. It made sense, in Luka's opinion. Alice _was_ a monster, after all.

"By the way, what _did_ the creature look like?" She asked the queen.

When the queen explained what it was, Luka's eyes widened.

He'd already viewed the masked man as a scumbag, but this was just... _Unspeakable._ The queen spared no detail as she told the story of what happened, all the way to the end. Luka was enraged at the man's actions, and felt a little happy when she proudly declared that the _fiend_ was dead. Alice looked a little worried, though.

"What did you do with the body?" She asked.

"We threw his remains into a bag, and tossed it into the lake." The Harpy Queen responded. She even went as far as to give them directions to it.

Abruptly, Alice got up, and started slithering there. Luka followed, calling after her.

Why was she going to the lake? The Queen said the body had been in pieces, so he was obviously _very dead._

However, when he got to the Lake, his heart stopped.

The bag was on the shore, torn open, and empty.

_***LINEBREAK***_

After I'd woken up, I quickly made my way back onto the main road, taking care to completely bypass any villages.

Walking by myself was a lot less boring then I originally thought it'd be. Nature wasn't something I could experience often in my old life, so it was nice to be able to do that.

After many hours of walking along the road, I noticed a side path. The plants in that direction looked gorgeous, so I figured "what the hell", and decided to take a detour.

I gazed silently at the lush foliage, trying my hardest not to step on anything. On the side of the road, there were a few flowers. I had no idea what they were, but they looked beautiful. They were a rich purple, and looked healthy. I took a moment to admire them, and then moved on.

It was such a wonderful place, but I had ro move on. There was more path ahead, after all.

After a lot of mindless shambling, I came upon a woman. She had dark skin, and pointed ears. So, obviously, she was a dark elf. And, oh boy, she didn't look happy to see me.

"Turn back, abomination. Your kind must not tread further upon the path." She said.

I, of course, did _not _do that.

"I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request." I quipped.

The dark elf was silent for a moment, before responding with: "What?"

"It means no." I deadpanned.

"I will never allow a zombie to pass by me." She said.

I sighed angrily. This shit was getting old.

"For the last _fucking_ time, I AM NOT A ZOMBIE!" I roared.

"You're _rotting_." She said. "Of course you're a zombie."

Fuck this.

In one swift motion, I picked her up, and tossed her into the woods.

I sighed, calming myself. That throw shouldn't have been enough to kill her, but it would stun her for a minute or so. I walked forwards, further into the path.

I picked up the pace, wanting to be gone before the dark elf caught up with me. I didn't want to kill her, but I would, if I had to.

**A/N: ****So that one was pretty long, at a little over four thousand words. There were a lot of linebreaks in this one, it seems. I wanted so badly to make it to five thousand, but I felt like the chapter should end here.**

**So, next time, our hero messes about in Enrika. This should be good.**


	12. The Enrika incident

**A/N: Another chapter.**** I just want to clarify something real quick.**

**Out of the two inhabiting the body, Jason is stronger than our main character. It's his body, so it makes sense that he would be able to use it to its full potential.**

"Pretty..." I mindlessly uttered, admiring the area around me. There were forests back home, but nothing like this. Everything positively _glowed_ with life. To say it was wonderful would be an understatement. Truly, whoever lived here was incredibly lucky.

So enraptured was I, that I didn't notice the woman in front of me until she was only a couple yards away from me.

She had purple skin, and pointed ears... Oh yeah, and a giant slithering mass of tentacles. I, of course, responded appropriately.

"WHAT IN THE LIVING _**FUCK**_?!" I screeched, jumping backwards.

"You shouldn't be here." She said, smiling lustfully. "Come closer."

"That's gonna be a pass from me, chief." I said, warily.

I took a step back, grabbing for my machete, and then cursing when it wasn't there. Was it taken from me before the bag incident? I, of course, didn't know.

"Come ooonnn~" She said in a lustful tone. "I'll make you feel really good."

"Touch me and you die." I said. "And then I'll probably die from pure disgust."

"It'll be a memorable death~" She said.

A _**WHAT**_?!

"...You kill people with... Those?" I asked, gesturing to the undulating mass of tentacles.

"Yeah. Are you interested?" She asked.

"I thought we'd established the fact that I think you're disgusting." I deadpanned.

"Oh, like you're one to talk!" She exclaimed, annoyed.

"I'm not the one _molesting_ travelers!" I yelled, throwing my hands up in the air. "Just let me pass by you!"

The dark elf abomination laughed.

"Do you really think I'm gonna let you go?" She asked. "You're not making it out of this alive."

I tilted my head.

"Do you do this with everyone?" I asked. "Or am I just special?"

"I'll use these to take your life." She said, gesturing to her tentacles.

...

...

...

Gross.

"I think you should just stick to stabbing people." I deadpanned.

"Shut up and face your end!" She shouted, lunging at me, using her tentacles to propel herself forwards. I caught her by the hair, and slammed her to the ground.

Her tentacles coiled around me, but I paid them no mind. They weren't powerful enough to hinder me in any way.

"... I bet you're regretting your life choices right now." I said.

"Please..." She said. "Don't kill me."

I sighed. On one hand, she'd killed an unknown amount of people, and hadn't planned on sparing me. On the other hand, people can change. I didn't care if she would become a better person though. She still needed to answer for her crimes.

However, I might earn a better reputation for sparing her. Maybe I could pretend to be a better person so that Alice would get rid of my bounty. I, of course, didn't think I was a bad person, but hey, perspective was everything.

Fuck it. She gets no mercy. She doesn't deserve it, after all.

I stomped down on her head as hard as I could. The impact pulped her skull, spewing out blood and viscera onto the dirt path. I shook off the fragments of brain matter, and continued onwards. Though, not before chucking her corpse further into the forest. After that, I continued onwards.

I walked for about ten minutes, before noticing a building in the distance. Curious, I walked faster.

As I got closer, I could see more buildings through the trees. I couldn't see any people, though.

It was quiet. Far too quiet for my liking.

I walked into the town, but still didn't see any people. Was this place abandoned? The buildings were all in good shape, so it must've happened recently.

One building had paper stuck to the side. Curious, I made my way over to the parchment.

It was another wanted poster. How did this even get here?

**WANTED**

**This individual has committed crimes such as assault, assault of a noble, and murder.**

**A reward of 25,000 gold coins is offered for his capture.**

My eyes bugged out at that amount. That amount would have someone set for life!

Also, murder charges? Sure, I'd killed a few people, but nobody would've known about them. Unless... This was about something that happened before I woke up in the bag. I still couldn't remember what happened, but after this, it was obvious that something _really_ bad occurred.

"Fuck..." I groaned. This was going to make my journey a _lot_ more difficult.

Turning my attention back towards the town, I noticed a large stone building. It was pretty nondescript, other than the chimney poking out of it. However, there was something about it that was just... Off. There was some strange aura around it. Wether it was good or bad, I couldn't tell. It was strong though. That was for sure.

I looked around. Still, I saw no one. That worried me. Those elves had been there for a reason, hadn't they? It wouldn't make sense for them to just be standing around without reason.

...

...

...

Fuck it. Why not?

I approached the building cautiously, taking my time to observe my surroundings. When I was satisfied, I walked to the door, and jiggled the handle. It was locked, of course. So, the only option was to rip it off its hinges.

Firmly, I grasped the handle. I saw it warp under my grip. I planted one foot behind me, almost resembling some sort of martial arts stance. With a grunt, I jerked my body backwards, tearing the door off its hinges.

I expected to see some cold, dark place. One that was just creepy, and possibly lonely.

The sight that greeted me, however, was definitely _not_ that.

A blonde woman sat at a coffee table, staring at me. Her face showed mild surprise, but nothing else. There was no fear, no shock, nothing that would've been an appropriate reaction.

"Uhh..." I uttered.

In the next instance, I was on the ground, with a blade to my throat. The woman was on top of me, her surprise having been replaced with disdain.

"What?" I uttered stupidly.

"You've done some horrible things." She stated.

"Get off!" I exclaimed. I swung my fist at her head--

And suddenly my arm was skewered with a dagger, pinning it to the ground. No problem, I can just yank it from the grou--

Quickly, she changed position, so that she pinned my arms with her body.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move her even an inch.

"J-just who the fuck are you?" I asked, fear creeping into my voice.

"I am Micaela." She said calmly.

"Alright. Micaela," I said. "Would you please let me go?"

She didn't do that.

"You are a criminal." She said matter-of-factly.

"The wanted posters greatly exaggerate my 'evil deeds'." I said. "I don't even remember _doing_ what I'm being accused of."

"You don't remember?" She asked skeptically.

"I... Have frequent blackouts." I admitted. "But I still doubt that I perpetrated any of the crimes listed."

She frowned, and stared directly into my eyes.

"Oh really?" Micaela asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.. "Then who was that masked killer that terrorized harpy village?"

"Lady, I don't remember! Now fuck off and let me go!" I yelled.

"Don't lie to me." She said. "You are a murderer, and thus, should face the appropriate punishment."

I swore. This wasn't good. She was obviously stronger than me. Hell, I couldn't even get her to budge an inch!

"I'm serious about the blackout thing! I'm in no position to lie right now, so why would I?" I exclaimed.

"You're not fooling anyone." She deadpanned.

"I'M NOT LY--" I was cut off by her fist planting into my face, sending me into the realm of unconsciousness.

_**LATER**_

Jason awoke with a jolt, quickly looking around the room. After determining that there was no danger, he relaxed. The dragon lady had done a number on him, but she didn't finish the job. Though, Jason wasn't sure if it was even possible for him to be permenantly killed.

He was in a cell. He had no idea why, of course. Who put him there? Why would anyone even do that? Was it the dragon lady? Unlikely. She seemed like she wanted him dead, not imprisoned.

There weren't any gaurds by his cell. In fact, there weren't any in the building at all! Jason wasn't sure how security worked, but that just seemed irresponsible. The only thing keeping him from leaving was a set of metal bars. He laughed silently. Did they know who they were dealing with? Surely, they didn't expect _Jason Voorhees_ to be stopped by some metal bars!

He grabbed the bars, and _pulled_. The bars moved, just barely. Jason's eyes widened. They were strong! Far stronger than any metal should be. Magic had to be involved.

Still, movement was movement, and so he kept pulling. He had unlimited stamina, so he could do this literally all day.

Finally, the two bars he'd been gripping snapped. He then began the process of bending them out of the way so that he could squeeze through. It took a lot less time than it did to break them.

Stepping out of his cell, he looked around for any sign of life. Not seeing anyone, he walked to the exit.

As soon as he emerged from the building, he was accosted by two women with swords.

"He's escaped!" One exclaimed.

"Get back in your cell." Growled the other.

Jason stood still, glaring at her. He shook his head.

The strange-eared(Jason just noticed their pointy ears) women looked at each other for a second, before charging at him, swords extended.

Jason waited until they were close, and then grabbed them by their heads. He crushed them against eachother, shattering their skulls and pulping their brains. Blood splattered his mask.

Calmly, he dropped them. He then grabbed one of their swords. It looked unremarkable, like any other sword from the medieval period, but it felt _stronger_.

Jason shook his head. He could wonder about it later. Right now, it was time to leave.

He started to walk down the path, away from the village.

A voice called after him.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!" It shouted. Jason calmly turned around to see a group of strange-eared women, one standing in front the others.

Jason, sensing the impending fight, decided to make the first move.

He leapt towards her, launching his hand into her torso. She cried out as he ripped into her, grabbing around her spinal column. He pulled, ripping out a piece that was roughly four inches long.

One of the women sliced at him with her sword. Jason grabbed her by the arm, and stabbed it into her right eyesocket. She screamed as it popped, sending blood and liquid eye running down her face. He reared his fist back, and punched it, sending the spike of broken vertebrae into her brain, killing her.

One tried to stab him in the back, but couldn't oenetrate the skin. Jason whirled around, and drove his new sword into her gut. He then angled it upwards. Viciously, he jerked it upwards, stabbing out through her back. Her screams quickly became shrieks. He did this multiple times, spilling blood all over the ground. Each stab upwards was a new hole that went out her back. Finally, he stabbed through the heart, ending her suffering.

The last one turned to flee, but he grabbed her by the shoulder, and pulled her back. She was knocked off-balance, and fell. She looked up just in time to see his boot descending on her face. She didn't even have time to cry out before her head became paste.

He took a second to admire his handiwork, before continuing onwar--

"Stop." A voice said. It was calm, barely hiding the rage behind it.

He turned towards it. The owner of the voice was a blonde woman. She didn't look like much of a threat, but Jason knew better. There was a fire in her eyes. It revealed the raging inferno within her. She was confident, so she believed that she could best him. Jason didn't know anything about her, but considering the fact that he'd gotten his ass handed to him twice now, maybe it wasn't a bad idea to take her seriously.

However, anger wasn't the only emotion in her eyes. There was also confliction, and-- Was that pity?

Jason didn't like being pitied.

With a silent roar, he charged. The woman sighed.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Micaela heard a commotion outside. That was odd. The town was normally so quiet. She got up from the table, and pushed the curtains aside, allowing her to see through the window.

The guards were running towards the road. Their frenzied pace was a clear sign that something was _very_ wrong, but she didn't do anything yet. They could handle themselves. They were guards for a reason, after all.

However, when the screaming started, Micaela quickly abandoned that logic. She threw open the door, and rushed towards the sound.

She arrived just in time to see _that criminal_ crush some poor guard's head.

Micaela knew not to let rage cloud her thoughts, so she calmed herself.

_The criminal's_ aura was completely different than before. It was a violent storm of hate and bloodlust, but there were more differences than that. He just felt like a completely different person.

And that's when it hit her. The blackouts, the personality difference, it all made sense.

_'Does he have multi-personality disorder?'_

Micaela didn't know much about mental illness, but that seemed like what he had.

He was still a murderer, though. He had to be dealt with.

So, she hardened her heart, and prepared herself.

**A/N: Please read this.**

**I have two plans for next chapter, but the outcome depends on the answer to this question:**

**How strong is Micaela compared to any of the Four Heavenly knights?**

**Also, unrelated question:**

**What are the rules for putting song lyrics in FanFics? For example, if I had our main character sing "Angel of Death" by Slayer, would that violate the rules? I'm not gonna do that, but you get the point.**

**Anyways, sorry for the shorter chapter, but it's two in the morning, and I can't prolong it anymore. Hope you enjoy.**

**Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sleep.**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Did anyone catch the Oblivion reference?**


	13. In Which Jason Hears Voices

Micaela wanted to end things in a single strike. He would die painlessly, without either the agony of bleeding out, or the humiliation of getting... *ahem* _you know_, to death.

Whoever created the execution process was truly sick in the mind.

Of course, you couldn't always get what you wanted. The man was nowhere near her level of strength. Still, he had _some_ modicum of skill, so dispatching him in such an easy manner would surely draw unnecessary attention to herself.

Micaela didn't believe that Ilias was watching this man, but it was better to be cautious.

Of course, she'd come equipped with a standard sword. Obviously, she couldn't be hurt by him, but she had to make the fight convincing.

He slashed at her with surprising agility, but still, she parried easily. He kicked at her, but she jumped backwards, avoiding his foot. The kick had sent him off-balance, and with one well-placed shove, Micaela sent him sprawling on the ground. Before he could get up, she dashed forwards, aiming to impale him through the heart.

There was an audible *_rip_* of flesh as she rammed the sword through his chest/vital organs. Black, foul-smelling liquid beaded around the metal blade. Slowly, it flowed donwards, staining the grass.

He didn't move.

Micaela sighed, and ripped the sword from his abdomen. She then began the unpleasant process of checking for survivors.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Jason was, of course, playing dead, as much as it pained him to do so. He wanted to get up and kill her, but she was too strong. He _could_ risk a sneak attack, but it's possible that she'd catch him. There wasn't any real safe option.

The woman was holding back. It might not have been so clear to anyone watching the fight, but it was painfully obvious to Jason. Why _was_ she holding back, though?

The answer to that question was unimportant. She was holding back. End of story. He'd wait until she thought he was dead. Then, when her gaurd was lowered, he'd flee.

The thought of running away made Jason _angry_, but it had to be done. He briefly wondered what his mother would think, but then quickly cut that thought short. Thinking like that would only make his mood worse.

She checked the bodies, looking for survivors. There were none, of course. Jason was good at that sort of thing.

The blonde woman sighed, and turned back towards him. She approached, and knelt by him, her sword pointed at his throat. He wasn't going to attack, but of course, she wouldn't have known that.

Cringing slightly, she slipped her fingers under the mask. Jason, with dawning horror, realized what she was about to do.

Delicately, she took off the mask, revealing his rotten face. Her eyes scanned his features, taking in the walking decay that was Jason Voorhees.

He expected amusement or disgust, something horrible like that. Instead, her expression was one of pity.

Jason restrained himself from trying to rip her heart out. Her pity made him sick.

She slipped the mask back onto his head, and sighed.

"... You poor soul." She muttered.

_That... That bitch! Fuck this, __just kill her!_

Jason nearly recoiled at that. Where did that come from? No one else was there, not that he could tell. The woman didn't react to it, either.

Did... Did that come from inside his head?

Certainly, _he _didn't say that. His mother taught him that swearing was wrong and immoral. Only bad people said such things, and it was Jason's job to make the bad people go away.

But, If _he_ didn't say that, then who did?

Jason decided to save that train of thought for later, mentally filing it away in his brain.

The woman, after staring at him for several more moments, pushed the blade through his neck, slitting his throat. The vile liquid sprayed out, soaking both of them. The blonde woman cringed.

Jason nearly laughed, but managed to remain still. Slitting his throat wouldn't do any good, but she didn't know that.

She waited a minute or so, watching for any trace of movement. After what felt like an eternity, but in all actuality was only three minutes, she relented.

The woman turned, and marched back to the village, no doubt getting help to collect the bodies.

He dared not move until she was out of sight, and even then, he waited longer. After about ten minutes passed, he made a break for it, making sure to gather one of the swords. It was no machete, but it would have to do.

Silently, he crept through the forest, careful not to be seen. It was almost as if he had become one with the shadow. It made sense, as he had lived in the woods for an absurd amount of time. Now that he thought about it, he realized that he hadn't been to the city since he was a child.

A thought ocurred to Jason. What would he do? He couldn't get back home, as far as he was aware, and he had no real objective. All he could do was just cluelessly wander around.

_Get to Sentora, idiot._

There was that voice again. Where was it coming from? It didn't seem like something that would come out from his mind, so where did it come from?

This was getting repetitive.

The voice had gone silent afterwards, though, so that was good.

The voice had mentioned a place called Sentora. Jason had never heard of it, but he felt drawn to it. A powerful urge to travel had overtaken him.

He had a mission, though he knew not what it was.

Well, it's not like he had anything better to do.

_***LINEBREAK***_

...

...

...

Where the fuck am I?

Seriously, waking up in wierd places seems to have become the norm. That was... Actually a little depressing, when I thought about it.

It was pitch black. I tried to look around, only to find that I couldn't move.

Suddenly, a flash of bright light appeared before me. When I gazed within it, It was looking through someone else's eyes.

A figure stood before them, showing the utmost confidence.

_Is that the blonde lady?_

Indeed, it was. She, as I had learned, was no slouch.

Thinking of that fight made my nonexistent blood boil. I shouted profanities at her, too angry to think about anything else. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do.

So basically, I was subjected to watching her kick the living shit out of whoever this was.

There was a strange sensation in my head, and it took me a moment to realize that they were thoughts. However, they weren't my own.

That was disconcerting. Quickly though, I realized that they were the thoughts of the man I was currently spectating. He didn't seem to know I was there, which was both comforting, and slightly unsettling at the same time.

After the first few moments, the situation lost its magic. Bored, I slowly zoned out, closing my eyes.

I wasn't sure how long I slept, but when I awoke, the man was no longer with the blonde lady.

He was considering what to do next, obviously not knowing of the objective.

It was really frustrating, listening to him. I'm not even sure why, but it infuriated me to no end.

"GET TO SENTORA, IDIOT" I shouted angrily.

That proved to be a mistake. It seemed that he heard me, somehow.

_This could be bad_.

Thankfully, he didn't question further, opting instead to simply heed my advice.

...

...

...

This was going to take a while...

_***LINEBREAK***_

Granberia was a little bit concerned.

Alice had summoned her to speak in private, which never usually happened.

She'd picked some secluded spot in the woods, away from Luka. That, Granberia supposed, made sense. Whatever topic was so important that Alice had actually called her in to formally discuss it... It must've been of utmost importance.

So here they were, in the woods. Granberia bowed, showing her respect.

"Lord Alice." She adressed. "What is it that you require of me?"

Alice sighed, and shook her head. It was clear that something was troubling her.

"You fought the masked man, correct?" She asked. "In Harpy village?"

Granberia nodded.

"Yes, my lord." She said. "I killed him."

Alice raised her eyebrow.

"I sliced him into pieces," Granberia continued. "They dropped his remains in a sack, and threw it into the lake."

Alice sighed again.

"He lived." Alice said, her voice icy.

Granberia's expression briefly took on surprise, before swiftly being replaced with a mask of disciplined indifference.

"What would you have me do, my lord?" She asked. "I can hunt him down within the day, if it is your will."

"No." Alice sighed. "You have more important duties than hunting him. However, if you catch him by coincidence, you are allowed to fight."

Granberia nodded.

"Yes, my lord."

_***LINEBREAK***_

Jason hadn't read anything in a _loooong_ time. So long, in fact, that he didn't even realize he could still do it. Besides, it's not like it'd ever be useful, right?

Jason, after reading a signpost that pointed towards Iliasport, decided to rescind that last statement.

He needed to get out to sea. He wasn't sure why, but he just instinctually knew that Sentora was a different continent.

That was actually really weird, in Jason's opinion. But really, who was he to say what was and wasn't weird?

Jason shook his head. He was getting distracted. He was wasting time. He still didn't know what he was supposed to be doing on Sentora, but that thought never crossed his mind. Ever since the voice mentioned it, all he could think of was getting to Sentora.

...

...

...

Jason decided that was concerning.

**A/N: This one was a bit short, but I had to get it out.**

**I feel like I should mention that this chapter was written from the span of 4 A.M to 6 A.M. I don't know if this chapter sounds terrible, but I don't think it's too bad. But hey, I haven't slept in 24 hours, so what do I know?**

**Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pass out in my bed now.**


	14. Jason Learns About Extortion

**A/N: So... 2020 is a thing. That means I've been on this website for about five years now...** **I've seen so many things on this website, both good and bad. It just feels kind of odd. I haven't really been here long, but that doesn't change the fact that it _feels_ like an eternity. **

**Well, enough with the sentimental shit. Let's get on with this.**

Jason, having no frame of reference for what a port town looked like, was unsure of what to look for. He assumed that there would be a lot of people, though. Considering the fact that ports were usually places of trade and commerce. Also, there didn't seem to be another port on the continent, so surely, it would be absolutely _bustling_.

It was, in actuality, a ghost town. The buildings were in such bad shape that Jason thought the town was abandoned when he first saw it. From the main road, there was no sign of life. If there were any people, they'd probably have lived deeper in the city.

Jason was used to seeing deserted, ramshackle buildings. After all, Camp Crystal Lake had been closed for many years. Other than the occasional teenager, he didn't have any interaction with people. Can it really even be called interaction when you're just trying to kill them? Jason didn't think so.

Murder didn't seem to be needed here. Even if people actually lived there, they hadn't really done anything to earn his ire. Besides, pointless slaughter would only delay him.

The fact that he had no idea what he was going to do once he reached Sentora still bugged him, if only slightly. It wasn't something that popped into his head that often. And even when it did, it was quickly swept back into the depths of his mind.

If he was being completely honest with himself (he usually was), he was just _itching_ to kill something. It was a great hunger within him, one that mighht have frightened him, once upon a time.

He chuckled internally. To think he'd been so weak at any point in his life. As a child, he'd practically been a joke. Back in Crystal Lake, he'd been an unstoppable force of nature. His power had been unmatched, and his ruthlessness unchallenged.

But that had all been ruined when he'd been brought here. This world, where people could just eviscerate him without any real effort... It was _frustrating_, to say the least. All of his work, gone in an instant. He'd protected his home for all of his undead life, when out of nowhere, he was ripped away from it at the last second.

He shook with silent rage as he thought of the dragon woman. She'd made him look like trash not once, but twice. The only other person to make him so enraged was Tommy Jarvis.

Jason proceeded to bury his feelings as quickly as possible. He'd almost definitely get to kill something later. Taking his anger out on bystanders wasn't something he was willing to do.

After calming himself, he walked into town. As he made his way through the filthy streets, he began to notice a couple of people out on the sidewalk. There weren't very many, but it was still proof that the town wasn't actually abandoned. That made things just a bit more difficult.

Jason had learned long ago that people liked to stare at odd things. It was just in their nature, it seemed. Jason felt somewhat uncomfortable at the idea of being near people (People he wasn't trying to kill, that is). It was kind of silly to think about. Jason Voorhess, arguably the most infamous mass-murderer to ever exist, had social anxiety. If that wasn't dumb, he didn't know what was.

Jason shook his head. He was getting unfocused, which was _not_ acceptable.

The plan was simple. He'd find out what direction Sentora was in, and then he'd steal a rowboat. He'd considered just walking along the bottom of the ocean, as he didn't need to breathe. However, that was slower, and also came with the risk of getting turned around and lost. Really, the rowboat was a much better solution.

The plan sounded perfect, until Jason realized that he'd have to physically ask someone what direction Sentora was in.

Jason hadn't spoken in a long time. So long, in fact, that he had no idea wether or not he _could_ speak. He sure as hell didn't remember _how_ to.

An idea sprang into Jason's mind. Couldn't he just write down his question on a piece of paper? Yeah! He could totally do that.

Except he didn't have any paper, or writing utensils...

Jason slumped. Why was this so hard? Why did he even have to go to this stupid continent? He still didn't know why.

_Just go to Sentora..._

There was the voice again, just in time to really hammer in the absurdity of the whole situation.

Jason sighed silently. He guessed he'd just have to roll with it.

He scanned the crowd with his eyes, before finding an old-looking building that said "STORE" on the front. It wasn't a really creative name, but hey, they probably had paper.

Jason pushed the door open, a little bell tinkling as he did so.

The man behind the counter looked simultaneously bored and devestated, poring over documents that Jason could not make out. He didn't even look up at Jason.

Walking up to the counter, Jason squinted his eyes at the paper. Most of the words were written in really tiny letters, so he had no possible idea what they could possibly mean. He could, however, read the largely printed "_**FORECLOSED**_" at the top.

The man, probably noticing the giant man looming over him, looked up in alarm. That alarm quickly escalated into full-blown panic upon percieving Jason's features. He opened his mouth to scream, but quickly found a large, rotting hand blocking it. He looked up at Jason, cold fear in his eyes.

Jason tried to make a calming gesture with his other hand. The man seemed to understand, and relaxed a little. Still, he seemed on edge.

Jason slowly took his other hand away, trying his best to appear non-threatening.

"Wh-what do you want?" The man asked, shaking lightly.

Jason gestured at his throat, trying to convey the fact that he couldn't speak. The man looked at him for a moment, confused. Then, his eyes widened slightly in understandding.

"Oh. You can't speak. Am I right?" He asked.

Jason nodded, happy to have established that fact.

The man grabbed a pencil and some paper, before handing it to Jason.

Jason had no idea if he could still write. He hadn't done it since he was a kid, which was at least fifty years ago, maybe more. Still though, he would have to try.

It took him a moment to remember _how_ to write, but after that, it came pretty easy. His handwriting wasn't great, but it was legible. And really, did anything else matter?

**'How do I get to Sentora?**'

The man sighed after reading his question.

"You can't. No one's been able to for about a year now. The storms won't anyone through." He said.

Jason shook his head, and wrote another message.

'**That won't be a problem for me.**'

The man sighed again, rubbing his temples.

"I _could_ give you a map... If you help me with something." The shopkeeper said.

Jason shook his head.

"Well, then you don't get the map." The shopkeeper said.

Jason mentally weighed his options. He could just take the map. It would be easy, and it's not like anyone there could've stopped him. But... Did he really want to be that guy? This man had done nothing to him. He wasn't doing anything wrong, either. He was just an innocent man that needed help.

**'What do you need?'**

The man sighed.

"So, times have been tough." He began. "What little money I have goes to feeding my family. I can't pay my debts. The people up at in the city council are threatening to foreclose on my house."

Jason nodded in understanding. His mother had occasionally struggled with finances back when he was a boy, so he could sympathize with the man.

**'What can I do about that?'**

"Get 'em off my back. Don't kill 'em or anything, but maybe spook them a little." The shopkeeper said.

That was simple enough. Fear was an easy thing to create. He'd break some stuff, maybe rough a couple people up... Simple as that.

"Oh, and before I forget." He said, before scribbling something down on another piece of paper. "Give this to them."

Jason nodded. He waved goodbye to the shopkeeper, and stepped outside.

So, after a couple hours that the author didn't bother to write about because he's a lazy piece of shit, Jason arrived at the town hall.

He gingerly opened the door, taking care not to draw attention to himself. It wouldn't do if people were immediately aware of his presence.

The main door led into a simple, empty hallway. The hallway led to another, similar door. It was the only other door.

Jason figured that was kind of a wierd way to make a building, but what did he know? He wasn't an architect (Even if he _did_ take great pride in his shack).

Figuring this to be the location, he walked through the door. He didn't open it. Rather, he simply acted as if it wasn't there. For all intents and purposes, it never existed.

He walked into a large, round room, with ten desks circling the middle. At each desk, sat an old man. They were staring at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" A rather rotund man shouted at him.

Jason turned to him. He would be first.

"Hey, I'm talkin' to-ACK!" The man began, before Jason wrapped a hand around his throat. Bringing him right up to the mask, he glared deeply into the man's eyes.

Haphazardly, he tossed the man away. The other old men stared silently, wide-eyed terror etched on their faces.

As the man got up, Jason roughly shoved the paper into the man's hands. He kept glaring for good measure.

The man quickly read over the note, his eyes widening.

"I-I'm sorry, but we can't-"

Jason cut him off, cracking his knuckles.

"OKAY! OKAY! JUST DON'T HURT ME!" The man pleaded, tears leaking from his eyes.

Jason silently stared him down, before turning away.

He walked through the doorway, heading back towards the shop.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Micaela was not in a great mood.

_How could I have been so stupid?! Why did I take my eyes off him._

She'd thought he was dead. He wasn't moving or breathing, and, you know, she _FUCKING STABBED HI__M!_

Of course, it never occured to her that he was undead. He was rotting! How did she not realize?!

Micaela had certainly never seen a male zombie, but it still should've been pretty fucking obvious. For Ilias' sake, she could see his _SPINE!_

Currently, she was nursing this headache the only way she could: Lethal amounts of coffee. Considering her... Unique existence, she could easily handle caffine.

What could she do now? She couldn't leave the village, and no one else there could kill him...

She'd just have to let him get away...

She sighed, holding her head in her hands.

She'd gotten cocky, and now he was out there, roaming free...

"Fuck." She growled.

**A/N: This one's a bit short, but I can't extend it any more.**

**So, some of you might have been wondering where I've been. THhe answer, you see, is very simple:**

**I was deathly ill. Had a nasty case of the Flu. You know how it is. I'm better now, though.**


	15. The Great Ocean Adventure

**A/N: I do **_**not**_** own the lyrics in this chapter. (Obviously.) The song is, of course, **_**Seasons In The Abyss**_**, by Slayer. If you don't know it, you should listen to it. It's a good song.**

**I'm using a different word processer this time, and it's slightly outdated. I don't think it'll be an issue, but I don't know for sure. I'm not an expert on this kind of stuff.**

Jason, after collecting the map, went to the dock itself. From what he could tell, there wasn't anyone around. The docks held an oppressive atmosphere, one that made Jason pause. It almost felt as if all the bad experiences in the town had coalesced into a thick fog of despair.

So after acquiring a rowboat through… questionable means, he set sail.

The waters were calm, and with his strength, the paddles violently propelled the rowboat, sending it rocketing forwards with every stroke.

With speed like this, he'd make it in no time, right?

Oh, how little he knew.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Granberia had felt disgusted at the thought of leaving the masked man alone. Sadly, orders were orders, and she had to follow them to the letter. She couldn't hunt him down, as she had other duties.

She wanted to kill him, to rip him apart. She wasn't even sure why. Something about him just made her want to go berserk, to maim, kill, and slaughter. The thought of doing nothing just made her want to scream in rage.

Granberia spent hours pondering on what to do, at one point considering disregarding Alice's order all together. However, her discipline prevented her from doing so.

It didn't prevent her from accidently starting a forest fire, though. Nor did it stop her violent rampage against the environment.

She was being childish, and a small part of her knew that. However, that small part was drowned out by the inferno of rage burning within her.

This anger wasn't natural. It felt different, almost foreign. It felt as if her emotions were some sort of mental attack.

Eventually, she calmed down. She had things to do, no matter how much she _hated_ him.

She wasn't the only one who hated him…

_***LINEBREAK***_

Luka was not in a good mood.

Upon arriving in Enrika, he immediately could tell that something was off. The atmosphere was solemn, and quiet. With dawning horror, he realized that it felt almost exactly the same as Harpy village.

He shook his head, ignoring the growing pit in his stomach.

The town was deserted. As far as he could see, there wasn't a soul anywhere.

Concerned, Luka walked deeper into the town. There could be injured people, for all he knew.

"Hello?" He called out. "Is anyone there?"

Receiving no answer, he traveled to the heart of the town. Maybe he'd find someone there.

He looked around, before spotting a blonde woman out of the corner of his eye. She was marching up to him, an angry scowl on her face.

Her eyes seemed to scan him, looking him up and down. When she saw his mother's ring, however, her expression softened somewhat.

"Oh, you must be Luka." She smiled.

Luka, of course, had no idea who this chick was, and responded appropriately.

"Uhhh… Do I know you?" He asked, confused.

The woman chuckled.

"I knew your mother and father when you were very young." She said. "You've grown _so_ much."

"You knew my mother? Who are you?" Luka asked.

"My name is Micaela." She said.

The conversation went on for a while. Both reminisced about Luka's parents, laughing and sharing stories.

Eventually, the conversation was ended, and Luka left the town, continuing on his way.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Thunder crashed from above. The ship was nearly capsized by every wave. Rain pelted the boat like machine-gun fire.

What a fool Jason had been to think it would've been easy. The shopkeeper had mentioned the storm, but ignored it, thinking it wouldn't affect him. His life wasn't in any danger, of course, but the boat certainly was. It took nearly all of his concentration to keep steady, much less row.

Jason had dealt with storms before, but this was unlike anything he'd ever seen. It was as if the ocean itself was alive, and angrier than he could ever get. Most people would've been tossed around by the waves, sucked into the briny deep.

A bolt of lightning flashed, briefly outlining a winged figure in the sky. Jason's eyes narrowed, but he kept his focus on the task at hand. They hadn't bothered him yet, so he'd ignore them until then.

Even though he was struggling against the storm, he still made decent progress. His powerful strokes sent the boat cutting across the water's surface.

The water, even though it was throwing a fit, still looked lovely. It was a rich, deep blue that reflected the storm clouds above, giving it a murky appearance. If he squinted, he could see fish swimming around, and an occasional tentacle rising from the deep.

At one point, the storm became particularly rough. The waves were so bad that the boat sometimes left the water. He was almost completely flipped three separate times. They were close calls, but he managed to right himself in time.

He began to worry when the storm around him disappeared, leaving a giant circular hole in the cloud.

The air around him changed almost immediately. Something was certainly off.

The winged individual descended from the cloud, stopping in front of him, barely above the water.

She was dressed sinfully. That was, of course, the first thing Jason noticed. Coupled with her expression and body language, she was just _lewd._ Everything about her was just an affront to all of what his mother taught him.

"You're not supposed to be here." She said, licking her lips. "Oh, how naughty~"

Jason blinked for a moment. Was… Was she hitting on him?

"Speechless?" She asked, smirking. "What, are you just admiring the view?"

She crossed her arms under her breasts, bunching them up for effect.

Jason was tempted to kill himself right there. Never had he seen something so… So wrong! Sure, he'd walked in on people doing the _** N**_, but this was different. It was as if her entire body was dedicated to sin!

Slowly, he grabbed his sword, never breaking eye contact.

"What? Don't you want to play with me?" She pouted, pretending to be offended.

Jason analyzed the situation. He had to kill her, but fighting would obviously flip the boat.

He could feel her power. It ran through her like a tornado, with seemingly no rhyme or reason.

Maybe if he ignored her, she'd go away…

Grabbing, his paddles, he continued to row. Concentrating on the boat's floor, he continued to move away.

She flew in front of him again.

"You really can't be here." She said. "The storm's there for a reason, you know."

He flicked his hand at her in a shooing motion, before continuing to row.

Suddenly, she was standing on the edge of the boat.

"Oh, I see." She said. "You're the silent type, aren't you?"

Jason leaned away from her, leveling a wary gaze upon her body.

"I'm very good at making people scream~" She moaned lewdly. "I wonder what kind of noise you'll make."

Jason scowled, and shooed her away again.

She hopped onto his lap, her face leaning closely into his.

Jason decided that she needed to die.

With as much force as he could muster, he punched her in the side of her head. It knocked her off balance, sending her overboard with a surprised yelp. He went to hit her with the oar, but she caught it.

"Oh, you're feisty." She said. "I like that."

She went to grab his mask, but he stopped her, closing his hand around her wrist.

The moment they touched, a current of power swept through Jason, whirling within him like a twister that did too much cocaine and had a stroke.

Evidently, The Sinful One (Jason refused to refer to her as anything else.) had also felt this, as she recoiled violently, jumping into the air.

Unbeknownst to Jason, the wind had started to pick up around him, creating a violent, howling gale. He glared at her, and the gale seemed to pick up. A wall of condensed air hit her dead on, and it took a surprising amount of willpower for her to stay in the air.

Alma recognized this almost immediately. Being proficient in the power of the wind made it pretty easy to see when someone else was using it, after all.

Jason, meanwhile, had no earthly clue what was happening. Magic was obviously involved, of course, but this wasn't the kind of magic he was familiar with. The shock that rippled through him when touching her was the first thing he'd actually _felt_ in a long time. It wasn't painful, and it left behind some strange energy that pulsed through his undead body, racing through every pus-filled artery. For a moment, he thought he'd felt his heart beat.

The energy felt exactly like what was contained within the Lewd Woman's body, which worried Jason somewhat. He didn't want to be like _her_.

He looked at his hand, watching the occasional air current flutter from fingers. After a moment, he turned back to the woman.

She was a lot more serious, it seemed. The lewd personality was abandoned (Jason was thankful for that.), having been replaced with a cautious, slightly angered attitude.

He stared at her for a moment longer, before grabbing his oars again, preparing to continue his journey.

Out of nowhere, she punched him, knocking him off the boat.

He slipped into the water with a loud splash. He watched his fingers slip off the edge, sending him down into the dark depths below.

Jason decided that it was not a good day.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Alma Elma looked down into the ocean, holding her wrist against her chest. She sighed in relief, her breath coming out shakily.

That man had been able to steal part of her power! It wasn't much, and it would probably get replenished before the day was out, but still! How did he do that?!

She could still sense him. He was sinking rapidly, but he wasn't dying at all. It was as if he was still on land. That wouldn't matter though. Soon enough, he'd be crushed under the ocean's pressure… She hoped.

When he'd touched her, a strange sensation had overcame her. She didn't quite know how to describe it, but it _definitely_ wasn't pleasant.

After a while, his presence passed out of the range in which she could sense things. A few long minutes of silence went by. For a while, it seemed as if the ocean itself had stopped moving.

She heard laughter, and took a moment to realize that it was coming from her own mouth.

To think, for a moment, she'd been afraid! Afraid of a human (He was sort of rotten, but definitely not a zombie.) who couldn't hope to compete with her power!

After a while, she flew off, back into the storm. She couldn't let anyone get to Sentora.

_***LINEBREAK***_

I awoke as soon as I hit the ocean floor. Thankfully, my memories hadn't failed me this time, as I knew exactly how I got in this situation.

Normally, I would've expected the bottom of Davy Jones' locker to be pitch black. That was not the case however, as I could see perfectly fine. The light felt artificial, which I assumed was just a magic thing.

All of this was unimportant to me though. Having been watching Jason's progress, I of course knew about the whole incident with the succubitch. Strange energy flowed through my body, coursing all the way from the top of my skull to the tips of my toes. It was chaotic, but also kind of chill. It felt like a paradox.

I reached for it mentally, trying to access it.

Now, looking back on things, trying to use a power that you have literally no experience with was probably a bad idea. I could've torn myself apart for all I knew.

Thankfully, it didn't do that.

As soon as I had grabbed hold of it, raw energy surged throughout my body. It roared through me like a devastating gale, creating several whirlpools that careened out into parts unknown.

I felt goose bumps break out across my entire body, the strange sensation making me feel oddly giddy. I felt on top of the world, like I could do absolutely anything.

I thought it was kind of weird that I could feel it, because I hadn't been able to feel anything since I woke up in this world. However, I didn't give a shit. This was the best thing ever.

I turned to a structure in the distance, deciding to investigate. I took one step forward…

And suddenly, I was cutting through the water, shooting towards it faster than a missile. That was no exaggeration, by the way. I just fucking _launched._

In a few seconds, I was only about five hundred feet away from the building. Then I crashed into a reef, destroying multiple plants and probably mulching some fish.

I laid there for a moment, waiting for that power to dissipate. I was clearly not equipped to handle it.

It slowly went away, fading back into the depths of my soul.

My body was in a sad state. Several large cuts bled an inky black substance, which rose into the water, clouding around me. Bones stuck out at odd angles, and my left leg was hanging by a thread.

So, obviously, I had to wait for myself to heal.

As I watched my bones bend back into place, Seasons In The Abyss popped into my head. Unconsciously, I started singing it. The water turned it into garbled nonsense, but I didn't have anything else to do.

_Razor's edge outlines the dead_

_Incisions in my head._

I smiled, bobbing my head along to the imaginary instruments.

_Anticipation the stimulation_

_To kill the exhilaration_

My voice had begun low, but swiftly became a shout as I came to the chorus.

_Close your eyes _

_Look deep in your soul_

_Step outside yourself and let your mind go_

_Frozen eyes stare deep in your eyes as you die_

I spotted a mermaid in the distance. She seemed to be looking at me. I didn't stop singing, though.

_Close your eyes and forget your name_

_Step outside yourself and let your thoughts drain_

_As you go insane, go insane!_

I was about to belt out the next verse, when the mermaid distantly shouted: "What the fuck are you singing?"

"Don't worry about it!" I yelled, before realizing that she probably couldn't understand me.

Wait… How could she speak under water in the first place?

She swam even closer, to the point that she was only about an arm's length from my face.

The mermaid was a pretty thing, with blue hair, pale skin, and brown eyes. She gazed upon me, her face etched with concern. Her eyes seemed to scan me over, widening as she saw the carnage.

"Holy fuck…" She muttered in horror.

"Hey." I gargled. It was pointless. Talking under water wasn't possible for me, it seemed.

An idea popped in my head. I pointed up to the surface, trying to convey to her that I needed some help getting up. The mermaid seemed to understand, and with surprising strength, she lifted me up, taking me out of the water.

"Thank you." I said gratefully.

"Holy… How the hell are you alive?!" She exclaimed, her eyes roving over my wrecked form. I laughed sheepishly.

"I was just bein' stupid." I assured her. "Don't worry, I'll heal."

"How?! You look like a fuckin' zombie!" She yelled.

I was… more than a little offended at that remark.

"I'd rather you not compare me to one of those wretched things." I growled. "I'm still a fully functional person."

The mermaid cringed, looking away sheepishly. After a moment, she quietly apologized. I told her it was fine, and then the silence resumed for a moment.

I followed her gaze to my chest, where my ribcage was slowly reforming.

"… Would you look at that…" She mumbled.

Feeling more than a little awkward, I changed the subject.

"So, what's your name?" I asked in what I hoped was a conversational tone.

"Oh, my name's Clarisse." She responded. "What's yours?"

I froze for a moment, my mind going blank. Should I give her a fake name? It's not like I'm well known as Jason, but it's better safe than sorry.

Wait… Why did I ever introduce myself as Jason in the first place? That's not my name.

Ah, fuck it, I'll still give her a fake name.

"I'm Axel." I said, cheerfully. "Nice to meet you."

We spoke for a while, getting to know one another. Eventually though, she had to go home.

"Where do you live?" I asked in a totally-not-creepy way.

"Well, there's this port that allows mermaids…" She trailed off.

Wait a minute… Port?

I smiled under the mask. I could get back to dry land!

"Would… would this port happen to be on Sentora?" I asked.

"Why, yes it is." She said. "Is that where you're headed?"

I nodded.

So, we went there. Most of the journey was just her dragging me along, but that was unimportant. It only took about thirty minutes to reach land, so there weren't all that many long silences.

Once we reached by the docks, we were stopped by another mermaid. This one had brown hair, green eyes, and slightly tanned skin. She seemed to be the harbor master. (The person that you check in with when docking. I don't fucking know what it's called.)

"Okay." She sighed. "What the fuck?"

"Oh, hey Mildred!" Clarisse exclaimed. "What's up?"

"Why are you carrying around a corpse?" The mermaid known as Mildred deadpanned.

"I'm not a corpse, thank you very much." I snarled.

… Okay, maybe I'm a little too sensitive.

She looked at me for a moment, before her eyes widened.

"… Clarisse, could I have a word with your 'friend' in private?" Mildred asked, scowling. She seemed to exude anger, seething angrily. Her body was even shaking slightly.

This seemed to go right over Clarisse's head. She blinked for a moment, and scratched her head.

"You're not gonna fuck him, are you?" She asked, confused.

I tried to suppress my laughter, but it forced itself out in great loud gales. I couldn't tell you why, but that was fucking hilarious to me.

"Wha- WHAT?!" Mildred exclaimed. "NO! WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT?!"

"He's like, rotting." Clarisse continued, either ignoring or being completely unaware of her distress. "That would, like, make you sick."

"Sh-shut the fuck up! I don't even want to touch… him." Mildred stuttered, staring at me in horror.

I saw an opportunity, and sure as hell, I fucking took it.

"Awww~" I drawled, grinning. "You don't wanna play with little old me?"

Mildred's expression took on an amazing combination of red and green. Such was the magnitude of its remarkable nature, that the laughter restarted, joined by the laughs of the witnesses around us.

Mildred grabbed me by the wrist suddenly, and dragged me away from Clarisse, onto dry land.

Once we were in a somewhat secluded area, she turned to me, full of anger and suspicion.

"Who the fuck are you?" She growled, flashing her surprisingly sharp teeth at me. She seemed about ready to tear my throat out.

"My name is Axel." I said, using the name from earlier.

"Well listen here, _Axel._" Mildred spat. "Fuck off back to wherever you came from. Nobody needs your shit."

I blinked, bewildered at the absolute _anger_ in her voice.

"E-excuse me?" I stuttered. What the hell did I even do?

"You heard me. Get the hell out of here." She said.

I puzzled over this, wondering what was wrong. She couldn't have known about what happened on the other continent, could she? No, if that was the case, I would've been attacked immediately.

"What exactly did I do to you?" I asked. "You have no reason to hate me."

She sighed.

"You have dried blood _all over you_! I think I can tell a fucking psychopath when I see one!" She seethed.

My eyes widened. Quickly, I looked down, looking for stains on my body. To my utter confusion, there were none.

"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. There's nothing there." I stated, slightly confused.

"Just because I can't see it doesn't mean I can't smell it." Mildred explained. "Most people wouldn't notice, but I sure fucking do."

That seemed like bullshit, but I didn't think she was lying. It was hard to fake real anger like that.

If, in fact, she wasn't bullshitting me, then that was a serious problem. She could call me out at any time. Maybe I could play it off as a misspent youth, or some shit like that.

"I have indeed done some bad things, I will not lie about that." I said. "But I am not as evil as you make me out to be."

I expected my words to trigger some form of inquiry on how I wasn't such a bad guy. Maybe I could've spun a small tale about my life, or something. I can tell you right now, that is _NOT_ what happened.

Mildred's face, which already showed her disgust, contorted even more, presenting raw fury.

"Don't lie to me, you asswipe!" She growled. "You don't get that smell from killing a couple people. It takes _years_ of slaughter to get it to where you're at!"

_Fuck._

Sometimes kids, having the physical form of an infamous serial killer was a very large inconvenience. This, I think we can all agree, is one of those times.

It seemed that she said that last bit a little too loudly, as I noticed one of the guards attempting (And failing miserably) to approach me without appearing suspicious.

Okay, this situation has spiraled out of control in a way that I could not have prepared for. I'm pretty sure that if I was still in a living body, I'd be having a heart attack. Unfortunately, being clinically dead doesn't shut off the panicked shrieks of anxiety as you slowly question the events that led you to the situation.

I decided that it was time for my ultimate move: running like a little bitch.

I turned on my heel in a way that was almost ballerina-like, and dashed away, quietly swearing as I sprinted through the city.

I heard a guard shout at me to stop, and briefly wondered how often hardened criminals would actually listen, before deciding to actually focus on my escape attempt. As I moved, I searched for ways out of the city.

All of the different roads seemed to feed into the main road, so there was only one exit. I didn't think of that as a problem, until I actually reached it.

Let me paint a picture for you. So, the road went on, eventually going over a hill, and dipping out of sight. I could probably get there in about 5 minutes, if I ran the whole way.

Unfortunately, some more guards had taken notice of the chase, and had formed a make-shift roadblock. I didn't want to hurt anyone, for fear of another bounty, so I skidded to a halt in front of them.

The one behind me finally caught up. He, of course, didn't look too happy.

"Sir." He said. "I have a couple questions for you."

I shook my head.

"That lady is a fuckin' nutcase." I stated calmly. "Don't believe a word she says."

"Mildred is a trusted member of the community." The Guard said. "I'd rather trust her over some zombie-looking asshole."

That comment made me… more than a little angry.

"What… did you just call me?" I growled.

"Sir, do-" He began, before I cut him off.

"I am not a fucking zombie!" I shouted. "Do I look female? Do I require sex to live? _NO!_ So don't fucking call me that!"

"Sir, please calm down." The guard said. "Just make this easy on all of us."

Yeah, I didn't do that.

The bounty was almost assured at this point, so I just pushed one of the guards out of the way, and kept running.

On a scale of one to ten, this day had been a solid 4.

**A/N: And done. That one was… difficult, to say the least. A lot of stupid tech stuff happened, but I want to live to publish this chapter, so I won't get into it. I apologize if the quality is inconsistent. **

**Anyways, you all have a nice day. **


	16. Make Like A Tree And Die

So, running through the countryside like a madman is not a good way to blend in. Less so when you're being chased by multiple guards.

Of course, they weren't really trying to kill me. Mostly, they just yelled at me to stop. They were even kind of polite about it. It was really weird, actually.

I'd expected to be chased by the mermaid, but she didn't go after me. I guess it made sense. After all, mermaids aren't really known for their sprinting speed. They kinda don't have legs.

My footfalls were much heavier than that of the guards, and left large imprints in the soft earth. It would be very easy to track me, if someone chose to do so. Although, most people wouldn't want to follow a hulking six foot behemoth, now would they?

The grass was a nice, emerald green which sparkled with dew. I thought dew was a morning thing, but then again, I couldn't really tell if it was morning or evening at this point.

There were trees in the distance. They were, of course, an entrance to a large forest.

_I could easily lose them in there. _

No sane person would chase someone into a dark forest in this world of nonconsensual debauchery. The chances of getting kidnapped and fucked were… pretty damn high.

So, I dashed into the woods, weaving through the trees at breakneck pace. If I smashed into a tree, I wasn't sure which would give way.

Y'know, unlimited stamina is a wonderful thing. I could literally keep doing this all day, if I wanted to. Also, you wouldn't expect Jason Voorhees to be a speed demon, but he absolutely was. Still, I was super heavy, so god help whatever got in my way.

I gradually lost them in the forest, so I stopped running.

I tried to step lightly, as to not make noticeable tracks. It actually worked, to my surprise.

So after a little while, I realized that the road was nowhere in sight. The woods here looked like the forest I grew up in, which was both comforting and deeply disturbing.

Unfortunately, just because it looked familiar, didn't mean it _was_ familiar.

Yeah, I was lost.

Fuck.

That wasn't a great thing, like, at all. I had a map, but that doesn't really help when you're far from any road.

So, I just started walking. I didn't take any turns, or anything like that, so I couldn't accidently circle back. If I kept going straight, I'd eventually reach _something_, right?

Right?

…Yeah, I didn't have too high hopes.

So there I was, trudging through the foliage, lost like an absolute moron. Still, I stuck to the path I'd set out for myself.

Maybe I should ask someone for directions. They probably wouldn't be too much of a threat, if they turned out to be hostile.

However, that required me to actually _find_ someone. That was difficult when you were in a _**FUCKING FOREST!**_ Not much lives there. Other than the trees and birds and shit, I was completely alone.

At least, I thought I was. I'm not really all that perceptive, so I really couldn't tell you if I was being followed or anything like that.

"Hello?" I called out. "Anyone out there?"

The forest doesn't make for good conversation. The trees just sit there, silently judging you. With their eyeless gazes, they bored down upon me. They think they're sooooo much better than me, just because my uncle's a lumberjack. Well fuck you, trees!

Wait, that one looked kind of unsta-

"_**OH FUCK!**_" I screeched, diving to the left. The tree barely missed me, crashing onto the ground.

After getting up, I looked around. That tree falling just didn't seem normal.

"Get out…" A creepy female voice echoed through the trees.

Okay, this is cliché as fuck. Some ghost, or forest spirit, or whatever the fuck, tries to kill me. I don't leave, and she says something ominous and/or threatening. Now, normally, the slaughter fodder would ignore this, and be murdered. It's an old movie idea. Jokes on her, though. I actually _want_ to get out of here.

"Would if I knew how, crazy bitch!" I exclaimed. "Seriously, just point me to the exit. I will leave post-haste!"

"…Liar." She growled. I found it odd that I couldn't figure out where her voice was coming from, but I just chocked it up to magical bullshit.

"Why would I want to exist in this shithole?" I asked, annoyed. "Lady, I got stuff to do, and I don't have time to put up with your dumbassatry. Just show me the fucking road, and I'll go."

I felt anger bubbling within me. It wasn't the hate-filled rage that usually preluded murder, though. It felt more like that feeling you get when repeatedly losing an online match of some game. Sure, you wanna break shit, but you're not as committed.

"How dare you call my home a shithole? I'll fucking kill you!" She yelled.

A figure appeared before me. She had green skin, and was covered with miscellaneous plants. Vines, flowers, and other shit like that. When she first appeared, she had a disturbingly lewd grin on her face. However, once she actually saw me, that disappeared real fucking quick.

"Ew." She said. "I was going to just suck you dry, but you're so gross."

Ugh. I still found that disgusting.

"Honestly, I'd rather skewer myself than get touched by you." I groaned, leaning away.

She glared at me.

"You don't seem to be taking me very seriously." She hissed.

"No, I really am. Oh god, I tremble in fear of your power." I sarcastically exclaimed, waving my hands in the air for dramatic effect.

"No human that walks into this forest lives." She growled. "I kill every one that comes here."

That flushed any humor down the drain. Great, another homicidal maniac. I'm getting _real_ sick and tired of these rapey pieces of shit.

"Excuse me, could you repeat that?" I asked, my voice barely containing anger which had just escalated to massive inferno.

"Yeah." She said, mistaking my rage for fear. "No mercy. I don't even let kids live. So tell me, what do you think about _your_ odds?"

I replied with a punch. My fist slammed into her face, propelling her into a nearby tree. She smacked into it full force, and landed in a heap.

I saw something move in the corner of my eye, almost too fast for me to track. A large, knotty tree root had quickly wrapped around my left leg. I tugged at it, but it was stronger than it looked. I could probably get it off, but it would take a lot of effort.

The plant lady that I'd punched got up, an absolutely murderous expression displaying on her bruised, bloody face.

"FOOL!" She exclaimed. "I'll make you suffer before you die!"

The forest seemed to come alive around me. Trees, grass, vines, etc. Everything seemingly wanted me dead.

I unsheathed my sword, cutting the root wrapped my leg. Other roots quickly tried to replace it, but I dodged out of the way.

I turned towards her and charged, my sword glinting in the dim light.

Leaves seemed to rip themselves from the trees, catapulting towards me at a surprising speed. I didn't expect them to carve into my flesh like razors, but they totally did that.

What kind of pokemon bullshit is this?! That's not how leaves work!

I, of course, ignored this. I had more important things on my mind, like taking this bitch's head off.

I was only about ten feet away when a torrent of roots exploded from the ground. They slammed into my chest, and tore completely through, leaving a large hole where my dead heart once resided. They propelled me into a tree, which then turned and hit me like I was a fucking baseball. I flew through the air, hurtling like the world's derpiest missile. I slammed into an outcropping of rocks, creating a shockwave that rumbled through the air.

Now, at the moment where body met ground, time almost seemed to slow. I hit it arm-first. My bones splintered, punching through the flesh with ease. My elbow got it especially bad, getting basically severed by the unfeeling sediment. A couple stubborn strings of flesh were all that kept my lower arm attached. Black pus poured from the wound, splattering the ground. The grass seemed to shrivel up when touched by the fluid, which was cool and all, but low on the totem pole of priorities.

I finally landed on the ground, broken and mangled.

I could see her walking towards me, a sadistic grin on her face.

I wasn't going to be able to kill her. She'd killed children, and I couldn't even avenge them.

This is bullshit! How dare she?! How dare she get away with her crimes?! **(He said, conveniently ignoring the shit he'd done.)**

Unconsciously, I reached for the strange, wild power in my body. The wind seemed to pick up, whistling through the trees. Energy flowed through me, dancing in my veins like a tornado.

I focused on her, my working hand outstretched, and _**moved.**_

Like last time, I shot forth incredible, mind-numbing speed. Unlike last time however, I was aimed at a living being, rather than an ocean reef.

I caught a glimpse of her surprised face just as my hand plunged into her stomach, destroying everything in its path. With all of my might, I clamped down on her slippery intestines, and _**pulled**_.

She let out an inhuman screech, and flailed wildly. One of the roots smacked me away, sending me shooting through the air. This was a dumb move, seeing as I didn't relinquish my grip. So, she went right along with me, getting dragged by her own gut-ropes. She was sent careening into a tree, screaming all the way. Evidently, fate wanted her to shut up, because she fell on a sharp tree branch, getting speared through the throat.

She hung there for a moment, gasping for air as she coughed up a putrid mix of blood and bile. Grabbing for her ruined neck, she thrashed wildly, tangling her organs in the leaves. After a few minutes of struggling, she went limp.

But where was I during this? Well, I wasn't left uninjured by my unexpected flight either, so don't worry about that. Allow me to tell you exactly what happened to me, with all the juicy details

I slammed into the ground, head first. I heard a snapping sound as my collarbone punched through my neck.

I landed hard on some rocks, eliciting more cracking sounds from my abused form. However, the momentum forced me to keep going, tumbling along the ground until I hit a tree, and stopped.

I laid there for a moment, waiting for the world to stop spinning. I have no doubt that if I could still feel my body, I would be in agony.

Seeing as I didn't want to be launched again, I waited for the strange power to fade back into my body.

I tried to move my legs, but couldn't. Considering the fact that I could physically see the bottom half of my spine sticking out through my torso, that made a lot of sense. Thankfully, my upper body was still moveable.

My lower arm had flown off somewhere, and I decided to go get it. I could see it sticking out of a pile of debris.

"Fuuuuuuuuuck." I groaned, shimmying towards it like an epileptic worm. I also had to be careful to not get tangled up in the plant lady's guts.

Now that I thought about it, how the fuck did her organs work? I'm not an expert, but I don't think intestines are forty feet long. She was hanging from thirty-something feet up, and still had parts of the great organ chain lying on the ground!

I'm not one to talk, since I have literal regeneration, but still!

So, after retrieving my arm, I began the long process of healing.

…

…

…

Time for another song!

_***LINEBREAK***_

Alma Elma was not used to feeling fear. Normally, her thoughts were preoccupied by things that many would consider lewd. She was a succubus, after all.

However, her mind was far from sex at this point. For some reason, she just couldn't get the rotten man out of her head. She was mostly sure that he was dead. People don't tend to survive trips to the bottom of the ocean. Breathing is, after all, important to almost everything.

A small part of her mind claimed that he had survived. It insisted that he was alive and coming for her. No matter how hard Alma tried, she just could not get it to shut up.

It was ridiculous to even think about. That man had practically been a walking corpse when she'd encountered him. How could he survive the ocean's crushing pressure?

His energy wasn't like that of a human, but it wasn't like a zombie either. Alma wasn't sure how to describe it, but he seemed undead.

That should be impossible, though. He was clearly male. Male undead don't exist. Was he just diseased?

She wasn't an expert on these types of things, so she really had no clue.

Whenever she thought back to the moment when he stole some of her magic, she shuddered. Something about it had just been so… Vile! It made her want to absolutely brutalize the man, pulping him with her devastating martial arts. However, she would _**NOT**_ allow herself to do that. As Queen Succubus, violence was something which she abhorred.

And then the nightmares started. She could never get away from him in the depths of her mind. He would always come back, no matter what she did.

And, swiftly following the nightmares, came the questions. What was he? He just _couldn't _be a zombie. It was very obvious that he was, in fact, male. She'd originally thought him to be human, but that just couldn't be right. He didn't seem to be alive. Most wouldn't notice, but to someone like her, his unnatural movements were very obvious. Coupled with the rotting skin, it would only make sense for him to be… a male zombie.

But that was impossible! Male monsters didn't exist, period! That's just not how it worked!

His very existence was just… Wrong! Thinking about him sent shivers down her spine.

Unbeknownst to her, other people were having similar questions.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Tamamo was annoyed. Granberia, for some reason, had decided that 4 in the morning was the _perfect_ time for training.

The constant grunting and clanging of swords would not allow her to sleep. For the sake of her sanity, it needed to stop.

She slammed open the door, angrily stalking towards the training grounds. She could hear the sounds of training dummies getting destroyed from halfway across the fucking castle. As an ancient being, Tamamo thought she was a patient woman. Living thousands of years will make you chill out a bit, considering the fact that you'll outlive almost anyone you ever meet.

All of that was thrown out the window at the sound of… whatever the hell Granberia was doing to the training grounds. The sound would just scrape along in your head, leaving irreparable damage to your ear canals. The castle's echo made it far worse than it should have been. It was absolutely torturous.

She walked into the training grounds expecting to see a couple smashed objects, maybe a dent or two in the wall, that kind of thing. In reality, everything was on fire.

Granberia, of course, was fine. She was stood in the middle of a raging inferno, the ground around her cracked and splintered.

Tamamo's sigh was venomous. Clearly, it caught Granberia's attention, because she turned around almost immediately.

"Granberia?" Tamamo asked in a sickly sweet tone that barely hid the anger beneath. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What's it to you?" Granberia snarled, glaring at the kitsune.

Tamamo blinked, surprised. Granberia almost never snapped at her like that. Sure, she'd get annoyed sometimes, but this felt different. She was genuinely upset for some reason.

"Granberia, is something wrong?" Tamamo asked, concerned.

Granberia sighed, and shook her head.

Tamamo, of course, didn't buy that for a minute. She didn't force the issue, however. Knowing Granberia, that would just make her angrier.

"Okay." Tamamo said, her frustrations forgotten. "Just keep it down in here."

Granberia silently nodded, and went back to what she was doing, albeit quieter than before.

_***LINEBREAK***_

After belting out some tunes at the top of my lungs, my body eventually healed. Sure, my reattached arm was still a little iffy, but that would fix itself in time.

I continued wandering throughout the forest, trying to find a way out. As I did, I thought back on the lady who attacked me.

Why had she told me to leave, only to not let me go? That didn't make much sense to me? Did she just want an excuse to attack me? Given how she spoke of… sucking people dry, that was probably the reason.

Ughh… Just thinking about that makes me want to vomit. Fortunately, I don't think I'm even physically capable of that. It was kind of hard to throw up when you didn't have a working stomach.

The trees were thinning out, which hopefully meant an end to this foliage-filled misadventure. Silently, I rejoiced.

The forest around me gave way to a large, open field. It was loud, being chock full of buzzing insects.

Off in the distance, I saw… What the fuck?

Off in the distance, was a small herd of centaurs. Of course, due to this world's fucked up logic, they were all female. Still, they probably could give me directions.

I casually walked towards them, trying to appear nonthreatening. As I approached, one of them saw me, and grabbed the bow that was strapped to her back. Seeing this, I raised my hands in the air.

"Woah, there's no need for that." I said. "I just need to ask for directions.

"Stay back, zombie." She said. "I won't hesitate lodge an arrow in your skull."

"I'm not a zombie." I said, annoyance dripping into my voice. "Notice my clearly male body."

She looked me up and down for a moment, confused.

"What are you? You're not alive, but you can't be a zombie." She said.

"I'd like to think I'm alive." I said, trying to be funny.

She just continued to stare at me. The silence was awkward, to say the least. It didn't help that the other centaur ladies were also just staring at me.

"… Anyways, I just need to find the nearest road. I have a map, but it's pretty useless if you don't know where you are. Could you please tell me where I am?" I asked.

She gestured towards a direction in the distance.

"Keep walking that way for a couple of miles, and you'll get to San Illia. From there, you should be able to get wherever it is you need to go." She explained.

I nodded and thanked her, before continuing onwards.

While walking, I checked my map. Sure enough, San Illia was on there. Plus, it was connected to several major roadways. One of which led to Sabasa.

Okay, I was finally getting close to my objective. I just had to make a little detour first.

Considering the town's name, they probably worshipped Ilias. This might be a good opportunity to learn about her, considering that she's kind of my boss.

Nothing of importance happened on the way to San Illia, so I'll just fast-forward a bit.

…

…

…

Okay, fast-forwarding's done.

The city was massive, and beautiful. It was a place that seemed to just _sparkle_ with cleanliness. In the middle of it all was a giant castle/church/whatever-the-fuck. It was obviously very old, even though it was well-kept.

This was everything I could see from the road, of course. I hadn't quite made it to the gate yet.

Of course, the guards stopped me. Unlike the ones in Iliasburg, these ones didn't seem so shaken up. They were pretty nonchalant, actually. It seemed that they had experience dealing with strange things.

"Who are you?" The Guard on the right asked.

"Oh, I am but a simple traveler." I said. "I simply wish to learn more of Ilias' glorious ways."

And so begins the _**GREAT SHIT-SHOVELING!**_ (I.E: Lying like an absolute bastard.)

The other guard looked at me, eying me up and down.

"How do we know you don't mean harm to our city?" He asked. "You look like a zombie, after all."

Swallowing the absurd anger at being called that _stupid_ word, I responded with a mountainous pile of lies.

"My appearance is why I'm here." I spoke in what I thought was a humble tone. "I was cursed by an evil monster, and I'm trying to find a cure."

They seemed somewhat more sympathetic to that. God, these people were easy to fool! All you had to do was say something along the lines of: "Ilias good, Monsters bad" and they would believe you! It was almost saddening to see how she had wrapped humanity around her finger.

"I believe there are a few healers within our walls." A guard said. "They might be able to help you."

He gave me directions to one such person, and let me pass.

Walking through the town, I got stares aplenty. It made sense, I suppose. If you saw a nearly seven foot tall rotting man just walking around, wouldn't you take a gander at that? Nobody gave me trouble though. Most people just avoided me.

There were quite a few churches around here. That big one was probably only used for major ceremonies.

That didn't quite make sense, though. There were a bunch of people lined up to the Uber-Church. Interestingly, they were all armed. A few of them actually looked pretty tough. Of course, they also gave me a few curious glances. I waved. They didn't.

There was also a large statue of Ilias in the town square. It was impressive, I had to admit. People seemed to pray to it, loudly expressing their reverence and love for their god.

I didn't say anything. Far be it from me to criticize people for their beliefs. Sure, Ilias is the villain, but they don't know that. Also, It would be a pretty dumb idea to call her out for being evil in the middle of a city that worships her.

Then again, I don't really know much about her. Sure, she's the bad guy, but what does she actually do? I never played more than like fifteen minutes of the game. I don't know what happens.

…

…

…

It's probably not important.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Luka had finally arrived on Sentora after persevering through a perilous battle against Alma Elma. She had merely been toying with him, sure, but he still won. That counts, and Alice is wrong for saying it doesn't.

Still, there was a lot to reflect on, when thinking back on the fight.

The succubus queen had seemed preoccupied during the whole confrontation. Sure, she behaved how a succubus would act: incredibly lewd. However, there was a faraway look in her eyes. It was one that deeply disturbed Luka, although he couldn't figure out why.

Once Alma had decided that the battle was concluded, she turned to Alice, and told her of a strange rotten man. Luka had no doubt that this was the very same as the man who'd rampaged in both Harpy village and Enrika.

According to the succubus, he'd fallen into the depths of the ocean. Even so, she believed he'd survived. Luka didn't doubt that for a second.

He was seemingly immortal, an unkillable machine. He'd been torn apart before, and yet he was fine! What vile creature could have birthed such a monstrocity?

Luka decided that he didn't want to know.

Things got worse when they arrived in Port Natalia. Immediately, they were stopped by a stern-looking, brown-haired mermaid.

She introduced herself as Mildred. According to her, she supervised the docks. Mostly, her business was with the ship's crew, so she didn't speak with Luka all that much. However, she did ask him if he knew of a masked, zombified man.

Luka swore under his breath, and relayed to her the stories of the man's atrocities. Her eyes widened at the information. She ran off presumably to warn people of the man

Luka, happy that people would be alerted, continued on his way.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Curious about what an Ilias-related sermon looked like, I wandered into one of the churches. Taking a seat in the back, I stealthily watched from the shadows.

It looked like a normal church session. People sat in pews while a priest stood in the front, declaring how Ilias was the one true goddess.

"We are in a time of crisis!" He declared, with impressive religious zeal. "People are falling left and right to the temptation of these despicable monsters!"

It was about what you'd expect. I had to give him points for enthusiasm though. This man believed entirely in his goddess.

He didn't notice me at first, as he was too wrapped up in his message. His loud declarations reverberated throughout the room. However, after spewing out a remarkable string of horseshit, his eyes finally fell upon my form.

He stood, slack-jawed at my horrendous appearance. Confused, most people in the audience followed his gaze to where I was sitting.

Silence reigned for a while, as no one seemed to know what to say. Finally, I broke the silence, and nervously spoke.

"Oh, don't mind me." I said in what I hoped was a friendly tone. "I'm only here to listen."

The priest blinked, and scratched his nearly-bald head.

"A monster!" He exclaimed, pointing a bony finger at me. He began to pray loudly, waving a crucifix at me.

Before the room could erupt in chaos, I figured I needed to speak.

"I'm not a monster." I said, making a calming gesture with my hands. "I'm a human. Please calm down."

That was sort of a lie, but who cares? I'm technically undead, but he doesn't need to know that.

The priest looked worried, but stopped his nonsensical rambling.

"If you're human, then what's wrong with your body?" He asked. "Why do you look like you crawled from the mansion up north?"

"I was cursed by an evil monster." I said, recycling the lie I used earlier. "I just wanted to learn about Ilias while I was here."

Silently, the priest looked at me, all hostility gone. However, there was still some unease in the room's atmosphere.

"I should probably go." I said, turning around.

"Wait a moment!" The priest exclaimed. Silently, I turned back.

Gesturing to me, he looked at his audience.

"This man still believes in Ilias, even in times of hardship! Learn from him, all of you! Your faith will constantly be tested, but you must not falter!" He exclaimed.

He seemed to assume that I already worshipped Ilias. I didn't correct him, considering where I was.

"I'll pray for you, so that you may be cured of your illness." He said to me.

I nodded, and walked out of the building.

_What the fuck was all that?_

He used me for a sermon, and I did _not_ like that shit. I knew I was probably being unreasonable, but for some reason, It just rubbed me the wrong way.

Shaking off the weird feelings I got from that whole experience, I pondered on one particular thing he'd said.

When referencing my appearance, he mentioned a mansion. Was there zombies there?

I decided that I should probably check that out.

**A/N: Okay, I'm finally done. I don't know how to feel about this one. The whole San Illia part feels iffy to me. However, after going over it several times, I decided it was the best I could do. Eh, it's over 4,000 words, so I guess I'm happy.**


	17. The Most Adorable Necromancer

**A/N: So there are a couple things that need to be addressed. I have noticed the discourse in the comments regarding the existence of male monsters. In this story, I am working off the assumption that a man who gets turned into a monster simply becomes female. Also, I treat the idea of men born from monsters as inherently different from monsters themselves. Sure, they might have a little monster blood, but they're still human. **

**As for male zombies, well, that will be addressed soon enough. **

So, after getting directions from some random old dude, I got the hell out of that town. Thankfully, the mansion wasn't too hard to find. I just had to follow the main road until a specific, shady-looking path split off from it. I'd then follow that road until I arrived.

Now, the journey itself wasn't too problematic… At first. For about an hour or so, I walked with no obstructions at all.

The issues began once the area around me transitioned from field to forest. Already, I was sick and tired of the trees. After the plant incident, I wasn't too happy to be there. But whatever, at least this time I won't get attack-

"HEY!" An angry voice shouted.

… Are you fucking kidding me?

Already annoyed, I swiveled around, glaring at whoever dared to stop me.

It was a large man, dressed in shitty leather armor. He had filthy brown hair, tan-ish skin, and green eyes. He wasn't fit, but he wasn't obese either. He looked young, and had this cocky look of arrogance that made me want to punch him.

"What do you want?" I asked, annoyed.

"This is my road. If you want to go down it, you're gonna have to pay me." He declared.

I blinked, not sure how to respond. Was he serious?

"Buddy, do I look like I have money to you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you don't have cash, you don't pass." He declared, adopting what he probably thought was a tough-guy pose. He looked like a fucking fruitcake, but who was I to judge?

"So you knew I didn't have money, and yet you decided to risk yourself anyways?" I deadpanned.

"How am I risking myself?" He asked, a smirk on his face. "I'll have no problem killing you."

I facepalmed.

"Buddy, I can literally snap you in half. Why would you even approach me?" I asked.

He seemed to take offense to that, as he pulled out a shitty, rust-covered sword.

"What did you just say?" He growled.

I sighed.

This dude was annoying. I had to deal with him, or else he might pull this shit on someone else.

I walked towards him, stomping loudly. As I got closer, I watched his stupid-looking face slowly turn from asshole-ish confidence to straight-up fear.

I only planned to scare him off. Maybe I'd rough him up a little bit, and then send him on his way.

I'm just gonna tell you now: that is _not_ what ended up happening.

I picked him up by the neck, glaring angrily. Before I could even do anything, a strange feeling bubbled within me. Out of nowhere, a violent urge seemingly flashed through my body. I wanted to rip, to maim, to slaughter. Of course, I'd felt this before, but it wasn't nearly as strong. Previously, I'd felt this when I killed that child-molesting _**FUCKER-**_

You get the point. That one worm lady. However, even then, I hadn't felt this mad. This guy was a saint compared to that bitch.

By the time I came to my senses, the man was more akin to paste than anything else. Blood was splattered all over everything, including me. If I didn't look suspicious before, I certainly did now.

On top of a pile of gibbed meat and bone sat a misshapen human head, clearly caved in by an incredible force. It's eyes were missing. Where they were, I had no idea.

"What the fuck…" I breathed. I wasn't affected by the gore. I'd seen that shit plenty of times already.

No, I was worried about how easily I lost control. Where did that feeling even come from? It just appeared out of nowhere, taking hold of my entire being. And now, an undeserving man lay dead.

Of course, I didn't give a shit about this guy, but this was still a problem. What if I just snapped like that in the middle of a city? There'd be a massacre. I'd be hunted yet again. Maybe the dragon bitch herself would appear just to fuck me up.

This was something I had to get under control. I just couldn't let myself run rampant.

But I had other things to do at that point. So, I beat a hasty retreat, sprinting down the road, and away from the body.

_***LINEBREAK***_

"Hey, Tamamo?" Alma Elma asked, pensively opening the door.

It wasn't often that Alma would ask Tamamo for advice. Mostly, she believed in herself. Being the Queen Succubus meant that confidence was basically a requirement, after all.

Not this time though. She still felt more than a little uneasy about the man, despite several attempts to get him out of her mind.

Tamamo, being the oldest and most mature of the heavenly knights, was sort of the mom-friend of their group. So, Alma felt that she was the best person to talk to.

Tamamo looked up from her desk, putting down some nameless book that Alma didn't really care about. (Not that she would ever say that out loud.)

"Yes, Alma? What is it?" Tamamo asked.

"Well, there was just something that I need help with." Alma said.

Tamamo blinked, somewhat surprised.

"Okay. What do you need?" She asked.

Alma sighed, and leaned against the doorframe. Quietly, she began to speak.

She told her everything about the man, making sure to leave nothing out. It was difficult at first, but became easier as she went on, rambling about the creature until she finally was finished.

Tamamo had a concerned look on her face. She was silent for a moment, processing the information that had been dumped onto her.

"… You said he stole some of your power?" She asked finally, her face displaying a worried look that made Alma uneasy.

"Y-yeah." Alma said. "It wasn't a lot, and I regained the energy by the end of the day, but it just felt so… So _wrong._"

Tamamo sighed, holding her face in her hands.

"I'll have to look into this." She said.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Continuing on my way to the mansion, I faced little opposition. For a main road, it was surprisingly empty.

The path to the mansion itself was as obvious as I expected it to be, so I didn't have any issue there, either.

As I trudged down the path, fog seemed to slowly swallow the world around me, leaving the landscape a bleak dimension of distant gray shapes.

The path led through a large graveyard. Several graves had been recently opened, which put me on edge. I wasn't exactly sure what I'd find in there, but I knew it wouldn't be good.

As I approached the building itself, I began to the notice the state of disrepair it was in. Someone clearly hadn't worked on it in decades.

The door gave no resistance as I pushed it open, allowing me full access to the structure's interior.

Immediately upon entering, I noticed a zombie near the corner of the room. Of course, due to this world's twisted logic, she had comically large boobs. She was still bloody and gross though. I don't know about you, but that would be a total turnoff for me.

She seemed to notice me, but she didn't do anything. She probably saw me as one of her own.

Why were there zombies here, anyway? Those graves had been dug up, so these definitely weren't naturally occurring beings. So, I did the first thing that popped into my head.

"Hello? Anyone there?" I loudly asked.

There was silence. I waited a moment, but no one answered.

"I was just curious about these zombies. I don't mean any harm." I continued, walking deeper into the mansion.

I heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet behind me. I turned, but only caught a glimpse of the individual. They were tiny, but that was about all I could tell.

"I'm not looking for a fight or anything." I said, directing my voice to where I'd just seen the figure. "I just wanted to ask you a couple questions."

Slowly, the figure stepped into view.

It was a little girl with purple skin. She had a dark outfit on, which I couldn't quite make out in the room's less-than-optimal lighting situation.

She stared at me, confused. Slowly, she stepped forward.

"You're not one of my creations." She said. "Who made you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean." I said. "I'm not a zombie."

She looked me over, her eyes seeming to almost glow. It was sort of like seeing a cat's eyes in the dark.

"No, you're definitely a zombie." She said. "And so poorly made, too."

"E-Excuse me?" I asked, too surprised to even be mad.

"You don't have tits or ass." She continued. "How do you extract semen with such an unappealing look?"

…

…

…

Excuse me, what the _**FUCK?!**_

I hate this fucking world, you know that. Why does absolutely _everything_ in this god-forsaken world have to be cemented in nonsensical debauchery. Why are zombies powered by fucking _**SEMEN**_?! How did evolution decide to just make everything revolve around nonconsensual sex? What the actual fuck is wrong with this place?

Just… Just why?

Okay, I'm over it. Everything is fine. Everything is just peachy.

"I don't need to do that. Besides, I'm clearly a man." I said, scrubbing several disturbing images from my mind.

"Zombies don't have genders." The girl deadpanned.

"What?" I asked, slightly frustrated. "Yes they do. That abomination in there had boobs. It was female."

"You really know nothing about zombies." She observed.

Well, she had me there.

"No." I said. "I don't know jack-shit about undead."

She facepalmed.

"Zombies don't technically have genders, as they can have either male or female souls." She said. "However, since they require semen as a source of energy, it is best to make them as sexually appealing as possible."

I blinked. That… kind of made sense.

"As I just said. I don't need to do that. I have _**NEVER**_ needed to do that, and I never will." I stated.

This seemed to confuse her. I wasn't sure what was so preposterous about my existence and lack of sexual appetite, but hey, it seemed like she was the expert.

Now that I think about it, why _did_ she know so much about zombies?

"Say," I began. "Why are you here, anyways?"

She was just a little girl. I wasn't sure how old she was, but if I had to guess, I'd say around nine or ten. Why was she alone?

"This place had a massive graveyard." She explained, as if she was talking to a child. "It's perfect for my experiments."

"And uhh…" I began. "What exactly _are _those experiments?"

She grinned, and made a victorious pose.

"I'm going to make the world's most powerful zombie!" The girl loudly exclaimed.

...

Oh. She was a necromancer.

That was kind of obvious when I thought about it. She's got pretty much all the clichés covered. Dark, evil mansion? Check. Dark clothes? Check. Surrounded by aimless, shambling zombies? Check.

"Okay…" I muttered. Honestly, that didn't sound so terrible.

Seeing as nothing despicable was going on here, I turned to leave. When I began walking away however, she grabbed my arm, trying to stop me from leaving. She just ended up getting dragged.

"Wait a minute!" She exclaimed.

I turned around, eyebrow raised. Confused, I asked what she wanted.

"You don't need semen to exist, right?" She asked, wonder in her voice.

Slowly, I nodded. I wasn't sure where she was going with this, but it made me nervous.

"Let me examine you! There is so much I could learn from your body!" She requested/pleaded.

…

_I'm getting a strange feeling of déjà vu. _

I looked at her, not exactly sure how to respond. She had the fucking sad puppy-eyes, and it just tore at me. How could I say no to that face?

"Okay…?" I said.

And like that, she led me deeper into the building, into what was presumably her workstation/laboratory.

There were many scientific and magical instruments lining the shelves. I, of course, didn't recognize any of them.

It was at this point that I realized I didn't know her name. Figuring I should probably know that before letting her do anything, I asked her.

"You can call me Chrome." She said. "Now, just find somewhere to sit down. We'll begin in a moment."

I sat in an old, rickety chair, quietly watching as she pulled out different instruments, and laid them on a nearby table. While waiting, I asked what exactly she was going to do.

"Oh, nothing much." She said. "I'm just going to some general examinations. If I find something interesting, I'll let you know."

So began the strange series of tests that she performed. She scanned me with objects I'd never seen before, muttering to herself as she furiously scribbled down notes on whatever conclusions she'd come to.

She took a syringe from the table, and I internally cringed. Then, upon realizing that I still, in fact, couldn't feel pain, I relaxed.

In life, I'd had some terrible experiences with needles. Not to say they weren't necessary, mind you. I had gotten terribly ill, and needed medicine. I'm not going to go into detail, because you're not my therapist, and I don't want to unpack years of emotional trauma right now. **(A/N: Any emotional trauma is over-exaggerated. Don't worry.)**

Chrome seemed to have some difficulty finding a proper vein to stab into. After a moment of searching, she seemed to find one that she deemed acceptable. With an unexpected grace, she delicately jammed the needle into my arm, and took a sample of the disgusting black ooze that flowed throughout my entire body.

She examined it for a moment, a look of disgusted curiosity on her face as she closely studied it. After a moment, she proceeded to grab a face mask and a pair of goggles.

"I need to study… whatever this stuff is. Just wait here for a little bit." She said, before walking into a different room.

So, I was left by myself in this dark, boring room. For a while, I simply sat in silence, watching the clock on the wall. I wasn't exactly sure how clocks existed in this world, considering the lack of technological advancements. Like most things in this depraved, fucked-up world, I simply blamed magic.

Anyone forced to wait in an examination room will tell you that it is boring. This, I tell you, is not entirely true. Yes, boring is one of the many words you could use to describe such an event, but that does not fully articulate the soul-shattering experience. In a silent room, the quiet noise of the A/C would be your only companion. Here, in this world, I didn't even have that. Other than the occasional drip of water, the room was dead quiet. The silence was almost suffocating, in a way. It seemed oppressive in this bleak, dark-walled room.

When waiting in such a place, you'll quickly find that time becomes meaningless. Seconds seem like hours, minutes like days. You feel trapped in a bubble of nothingness as time slowly ticks by outside, yet the room never changes. The room feels to be infinite, and omnipresent. It has existed before the dawn of time, and it will continue to exist long after the universe itself ceases to be. You are but one of the many patients in the endless cycle that is the room. It looks upon you with uncaring eyes, as it steals a part of your very soul. The existential dread will slowly swallow you, utterly destroying your sanity, before haphazardly gluing it back together. You may leave that room physically intact, but your mind will never be the same.

At least, that's how I felt when going to the doctor. That's relatable, right guys?

…

Right?

Anyways, moving on from my small breakdown, I began to quietly explore the room. In the center, a large operating table sprang forth from the ground. It seemed almost as if it was part of the floor itself.

There were several bloodstains on and around the table. Zombie making was pretty messy, it seemed.

Two smaller tables accompanied the large one, each sitting by one side. Tools were placed in a chaotic manner, piled on top of one another like a deranged org-

Agh! Damn this stupid world and its sexual nature! It's sinking its perverted claws into my mind.

Shaking off that… whole thing, I continued my observation.

The tools themselves seemed mostly normal. A scalpel, a hacksaw, etc. Yep, normal stuff.

There were other things, though. They looked unfamiliar to me, so I simply ignored them.

Looking at the walls, I could tell that this building was somewhat unstable. The ceiling was in awful shape. It seemed like it would collapse soon, unless something was done about it.

_Shit. Chrome needs to know about this._

She was unavailable at the moment, though. So, I had nothing to do except continue dicking around.

There were a couple of coffins in the corner of the room. The lids were closed, and I didn't want to open them. I felt kind of uncomfortable with that.

I was about to sit down when Chrome slammed open the door, excitement clear on her face.

"Did you find something?" I asked, chuckling at her star-struck expression.

"YOUR BODY IS SO COOL!" She exclaimed.

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I remained silent. I figured with how excited she was, she'd continue anyways.

And continue she did.

Rapidly, she began to explain what she'd found, claiming that whatever form of magic in my body was completely new. According to her, she was very familiar with necromancy, and yet she'd never seen anything like this.

Apparently, my magic was self-sufficient somehow, which basically just meant that I didn't need to eat or sleep. I guess that explained some things.

She also noticed the presence of wind magic, which didn't make sense to her. That was probably what got stolen from that succubus lady. I didn't mention that to her, as I feared that would bring up questions I didn't really want to answer.

She went on to spout a bunch of science stuff that I didn't understand. Most of it didn't seem really important, so I just sort of tuned it out.

When she finished, she was out of breath from her long-winded information dump. The sight made me chuckle at her expense.

"So, did you learn anything helpful?" I asked.

Her face darkened at that. She sighed, looking down at the ground.

"Unfortunately, no." She mumbled. "Your magic is inherently different from that of an undead's. I can't replicate it."

"Different how?" I asked.

"Well, it's different from any type of magic I've ever seen." She said. "It's similar to undead, but there's this strange, sinister feeling that seemingly pulses from it."

That was… concerning. Considering the fact that I was in the body of an infamous serial killer, one who rose from the dead _multiple times _simply to kill a bunch of teenagers, it would make sense that any energy he/I possessed would feel evil. If you couple that with the poisonous stench of blood and rotten meat that hung around my body like a disgusting cloud, then I suppose it made sense why that mermaid bitch called me out.

But that didn't quite make sense. If she had noticed it so easily, then why had nobody else? Surely someone else would've pointed it out as well.

Chrome didn't seem to notice. Either that, or she didn't care. Considering the fact that she worked with zombies, she might've just gotten used to the smell.

Granted, I wasn't exactly sure what the smell was like. My nose was as dead as the rest of me, so I couldn't use it.

These were problems for later, so much like many other things, I pushed them into the back of my mind. I had more important matters to attend to, after all.

"So, Chrome…" I began.

"Yes?" She asked, one eyebrow raised

"This place is falling apart." I said, gesturing to the pitiful-looking ceiling.

She sighed again, and nodded.

"Yeah, this place is a wreck." She muttered. "There isn't much I can do about it, though."

I didn't want that ceiling to crush her. It looked like it could fall at any time, and I didn't want to take chances.

"I could fix this ceiling up a little bit." I volunteered. "It won't be great, but it'll be a little better than it is now."

She happily excepted my offer, tackling me for a hug.

_This kid is just too fucking cute._

So I went to work. She didn't have any spare lumber, so I went out and cut down a couple of small trees.

Well, perhaps "Cut down" isn't the best description. In actuality, I just kind of ripped them out of the ground. I then proceeded to cut them into boards. This took several hours, of course. You can't just rush that kind of thing.

Oh, also I was a total amateur, so that also might have slowed it down.

By the time I finished, it was morning. I'd started late in the afternoon, so it must have been at least 12 hours.

Gathering up the misshapen planks, I walked back into the basement.

Chrome had just seemingly woken up, so she wasn't very talkative. She did point out where some spare nails were kept, though.

After acquiring the nails, I began the process of reinforcing the ceiling. I didn't have a hammer, so I just used my thumb to press them into the proper spots.

It's times like these that I'm thankful for my enhanced strength.

So, after many hours of work, I was finished. It wasn't great, but it'd hold.

I turned to Chrome, who had been working on a zombie until then. I pointed to the new supports, telling her I was finished. She thanked me profusely.

With that done, she'd be safe. Now, I needed to get back on my mission.

"Now that I'm done making sure the ceiling won't cave in on you, I gotta go." I said.

Chrome looked a little saddened by that, but she didn't press the issue.

"See you, kid." I said, waving as I walked away.

I'd almost reached the door when I heard a particularly loud **THUMP** in the room above.

I looked back at Chrome, and silently gestured to where the noise came from.

She shrugged, just as confused as me.

There was something up there. Quietly, I climbed the stairs, sticking to the shadows. I crept to the doorway, making sure to remain unseen.

With one hand on my sword, I slowly peeked out from the doorway. Mentally, I swore at what I saw.

Alice and Luka were facing away from me. They were staring at the corpse of a zombie that Alice had obliterated.

Seriously, that thing was fucking paste.

Panicked, I quietly made my way back into the basement. Locking the door behind me, I made my way over to Chrome.

"Can you fight?" I whispered, gesturing for her to be silent.

With a snap of her fingers, the zombie she was working on rose from the table.

"She's my greatest creation." Chrome explained quietly. "There's no way anyone could beat her."

"Okay, that's good." I whispered.

Uneasily, she glanced over to me.

"What's up there, anyways?" She asked.

I described to her the two intruders, along with my previous encounters. She seemed especially concerned when I described Alice.

I heard footsteps from the other side of the door. They were getting closer.

The doorknob jiggled, but didn't budge. There was a muffled conversation on the other side. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but Alice sounded annoyed.

And then the door flew off its hinges.

It sailed through the air, missing me by inches. It hit the wall, shattering into a million little pieces on impact.

Quickly, Luka charged into the room. Alice hung back in the doorway, observing.

"YOU!" Luka shouted, pointing at me.

…

…

…

Well fuck.

**A/N: Let me tell you kids a story. So, this was almost ready a week ago. I'd planned to release it last Tuesday. However, when cutting some paper, I got a little to zealous with my snipping. In my overconfidence, I sliced through most of my finger. So there I was, a victim of my own hubris, gushing blood all over my floor as I rushed to get some band-aids.**

**But hey, now I can see my bone when I shine a light into the wound, so that's neat.**

**It's been sitting for a couple days now. It's not quite healed, but now I can finish this chapter.**

**I feel I should address this right now. Our beloved main character has a soft spot for kids. That's why he felt compelled to help Chrome.**

**I know Chrome is not a child, but our protagonist doesn't.**

**Anyways, have a nice day.**


	18. Hero Vs Dumbass

**A/N: There have been so many technical errors today. I want to throw my computer out a window.**

Luka stood in front of me, his face twisted into a mask of hate. With his horrifying sword drawn, he pointed it at me, seemingly determined to run me through.

Oh, boy. This could get really out of hand if I don't say anything. As far as he knows, I've rampaged in two separate villages now. Although, the excuse: "That wasn't me! It was the other guy in my head!" would probably get me in even more trouble than I already was in.

Maybe I should go for the friendly approach?

"Hi Luka." I cheerfully said, waving at him. "Didn't expect to see you here."

I wasn't actually sure what that was supposed to accomplish. All it did was make him angrier.

"Don't talk to me like we're friends!" He spat, metaphorical fire in his eyes. "You'll face justice for your crimes, even if I have to drag you back to Ilias continent myself!"

"Okay, I feel like there's some things I need to establish." I said, holding my hands out in a placating gesture.

"I don't care what you have to say! You're not weaseling your way out of this!" He exclaimed.

This was going south, but I was sure I could still save it.

Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

"Buddy, there's some things going on here that you don't understand." I said. "If you'd just let me explai—"

Rudely, he interrupted me with a vicious attack. Just barely, I dodged to the left. Pulling out my sword, I readied myself for combat.

"Kid, just go away." I said. "I don't want to hurt you."

Before either of us could do anything else, Chrome's zombie flew past me at a surprising speed, headed straight for Luka's face.

The resulting battle was probably the most disturbing thing I'd ever seen.

Luka viciously slashed away at the creature, his fury momentarily focused on it. It tried to defeat him with… Sexual techniques. Now, this was unsettling for a couple different reasons. For one, Luka looked like he was twelve, which set Chris Hansen alarm bells off in my head. Also, the creature was a fucking zombie, so there was necrophilia dressing added to this salad of illegal activities.

The fight wasn't that long. With an impressive combination of sword moves, Luka made short work of it.

Chrome, understandably angered by the destruction of her creation, stepped up to fight.

A sudden bolt of fear speared through my heart. He just fucking obliterated that zombie, so what would he do to her?

"Chrome, don't fight him!" I exclaimed.

"What?" She turned around, confused. "Why wouldn't I? He stands no chance against me."

This was the hero of the adventure, so I doubted that very fucking much.

I shook my head. Pointing at the exit, I told her to get out of there.

"No." Chrome said. "He destroyed my greatest creation! I'm not letting him walk off after that."

"I'll fight him." I said. "You get out of here."

I wanted to send her away for two reasons. One was just me being worried for her, of course. However, I was also afraid that Luka would reveal my supposed crimes. Even if I didn't do it, for some reason I felt uncomfortable at the thought of Chrome hearing about that.

"Chrome, just please go." I said. "I'll drive him away."

She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it, shaking her head.

"Fine." She said. "Just be careful, alright."

She disappeared into the darkness of the basement, hopefully leaving the area. Alice was still near the door, but she seemed firmly focused on me. I was confident that she could sneak by.

With her gone, I turned back to Luka, glaring at him.

"I'll say it one more time." I growled. "Get the hell out of here before I kill you."

That was a bluff. Sure, I planned to beat the hell out of him, but I didn't want to kill him. He was still a kid, and I didn't want that shit weighing on my conscience.

He stepped forwards, sword in hand. Sighing, I raised mine.

And so began the fight.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Luka roared, charging forwards at the masked man. After seeing the atrocities committed by the creature, there was no way he could let it run free. He'd track down that necromancer girl too, once he was done with the man.

Was that girl his creator? It would make sense, given how protective of her he seemed to be. If that was truly the case, then he'd bring her to justice as well.

He began the fight with a Thunder Thrust, seeking to take his opponent by surprise. The man dodged to the left, but was unable to fully avoid the attack. It dug into his side, slicing through like paper.

He recoiled, cursing and swearing as he backpedaled.

"Gah! Why did that hurt?" He asked to nobody in particular. "I'm not supposed to feel anything!"

The man glared at Luka, before his eyes zeroed in on Angel Halo.

"That fuckin' sword." He growled. "That must be it."

Luka went on the defensive as the creature lumbered towards him, his body rigid with anger. The man grabbed at him, but missed as Luka dodged backwards. Luka retaliated with a quick stab in the arm.

The man yelped, and drew backwards, cursing at him.

The man reached for Luka again, this time grabbing the front of his shirt. Raising him up, he looked him dead in the eyes.

"You little shit." He growled. "I outta rip you in half."

Luka gagged at the creature's putrid breath. In his grip, there was no way he could escape. He still had hold of Angel Halo, though…

With all his might, Luka jammed the sword deep into the man's stomach.

The man fell to the ground, letting out a blood-curdling shriek as he spasmed. Luka was thrown across the room, into the wall.

The man screamed in agony, clutching the sword that was sticking out of his gut. His eyes rolled sightlessly in their sockets, as foul-smelling black liquid poured from every orifice in his body.

Luka cringed at the sound of the man's pain. He had only meant to seal him. He didn't know what the sword would do to him. Clearly, something had gone terribly wrong.

The man convulsed suddenly, his screams suddenly stopping. He went limp, lying in a pool of the black substance.

Silence reigned for what seemed like hours. Luka stared in muted horror at the corpse, suddenly realizing that he had just taken a life. Considering who he had just killed, he couldn't think of a more worthy individual. Still though, it seemed wrong to just kill him. Who was he to bestow death upon someone like that?

Slowly, he got up, his eyes never leaving the corpse. He walked towards it, fear welling up in his body as he did so.

Looking down on the man's body, he looked for any sign of life. The man wasn't breathing. Luka checked his pulse to make sure. Nothing.

Satisfied, he grabbed Angel Halo. He tried to pull it out, but it was firmly wedged.

Suddenly, a slimy, rotten hand clamped onto his wrist.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Alice watched Luka fight the masked man. She had no reason to intervene at the moment, as Luka didn't seem to be in any danger. Normally she wouldn't help at all, but this was a special case. That man was just… unnatural. She wasn't sure what it was, but she didn't like it whatsoever.

She almost stepped in when the creature grabbed Luka, but she relaxed when he escaped. Alice winced at the man's screams, but felt no pity for him. He had killed too many innocents to be pitied.

After the man had gone limp, Luka went over to retrieve Angel Halo.

Suddenly, a dark, powerful energy flickered to life within the man. He remained limp, but he was absolutely conscious.

Before she could shout at Luka to move, The man grabbed him.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Luka was sent flying through the air, crashing into the floor. The back of his head hit a wall, pain erupting in his skull. Stars danced in his vision, as it felt like a spike was being driven into his brain.

Quietly, he meditated, healing his injuries. After the pain dispersed, he quickly stood up. Focused on the man, he looked just in time to see him pull Angel Halo out of his chest. Throwing it to the ground, he went to pick up his sword. However, he stopped, something having caught his eye. He turned to one of the tables, spotting a hacksaw. He grabbed it, and inspected it. After deeming it acceptable, he turned back to Luka.

Luka dashed for his sword, trying to get it back in his grip. The man saw this, and kicked it behind him, before returning his gaze to Luka.

Locking eyes with the man, Luka felt his heart stop. The man's eyes were ice cold, and filled with anger. He'd never seen such strong hatred before. He felt the desire to run well up within him. His instincts screamed at him, yelling at him to get as far away from the man as possible.

He shook off the fear. He'd just beaten him once. Surely, he could do it again.

The man stalked towards him, brandishing the hacksaw. He was silent, which made him far more terrifying.

Luka circled around him, once again going for Angel Halo. The man, slowly stomping towards him, couldn't keep up. This was going to be ea-

Luka screamed as a sharp, white-hot pain washed through his shoulder, spreading its tendrils throughout his body. He felt warm liquid trail down his back, spilling onto the floor. Falling to the ground, he clutched at his shoulder. Upon feeling cold, sharp metal, his eyes widened. The man had just tried to kill him. If that had been just a few inches to the right, It would've gone through his brain.

He couldn't move his left arm. It was just slack. The pain was too intense for him to concentrate. He just couldn't clear his mind enough to meditate. He tried to get up, but his legs refused to move. Frozen in fear, he couldn't do anything.

A shadow loomed over him. Suddenly, he was flipped on his back. The hacksaw dug deeper into him, causing him to cry out.

The man, now holding a scalpel, stared down upon him.

Luka felt his heart freeze. He was going to die. There was nothing he could do. All his accomplishments, all the things he'd done, were meaningless. He was going to _die._

_I'm sorry, mom. _He thought. _I failed you._

He felt tears well up in his eyes, but he refused to cry. He wouldn't give the man the satisfaction. Man wasn't even a proper term for him. He was something else entirely.

All his life, he'd been taught that monsters were evil incarnate. Well, this _thing_ was a true monster. Luka was just one of his many victims.

He closed his eyes, waiting for death to come.

There was a sudden rush of wind, and then the distinct sound of something crashing into a table. Luka opened his eyes in confusion, wondering what the hell just happened.

As he looked up, he caught the sight of Alice picking the man up and throwing him across the room. He crashed against the wall, but landed on his feet.

With Angel Halo in hand, she charged forwards, bestowing upon the man a series of lightning-quick slashes.

The man shot backwards, hitting another wall. He impacted this one hard enough to dent it.

Landing on the floor, the man quickly got up, balling his fists as he glared at Alice. Suddenly, he blurred forwards, with speed that Luka had only previously seen from Alma Elma. Alice's eyes widened, but she effortlessly dodged out of the way.

"You've gained wind magic." She observed. "Where would someone like you get that?"

The man didn't answer. Instead, he charged forwards yet again, faster than before. However, with a speed far surpassing the man, she ran Angel Halo through his torso. She twisted it sideways, and pulled it out.

Without giving the man a chance to defend, she stabbed him again, this time in the ribs. She again ripped out her sword, a loud squelch accompanying her actions. The man fell forwards, faceplanting onto the stone floor. Weakly, he tried to get back up. Alice did not grant him any mercy. Without a second thought, she speared Angel Halo through the back of his head.

He seemed to freeze for a moment, as if confused. Finally, he went limp.

Alice quickly made her way over to Luka, muttering about how he was an idiot. Taking a look at his injury, she swore.

"I'm going to heal you." She said. "But I have to take this out first."

"O-Okay." Luka nodded, still plenty unsettled. Considering the fact that he thought he was going to die less than a minute ago, he felt that being a little jittery was understandable.

"This is going to hurt." Alice warned.

Without any time to prepare himself, Luka screamed as the hacksaw was forcefully removed from his shoulder. Agony radiated throughout that entire side of his body. It felt as if someone had jammed a thousand molten pins into his body.

And then suddenly, it was gone. His horrible wound had vanished in an instant. That would have taken multiple meditations for him to heal, and it would've left a nasty scar.

Monster Lord powers were OP.

Alice slithered over to the man, and grabbed him by the arm.

"Stay here." Alice said to Luka, before disappearing in a flash of light.

Luka blinked.

"D-Did she just teleport?"

_***LINEBREAK***_

Tamamo was once again reading. After that talk with Alma Elma a few days ago, she'd sent out Yao to find the masked man. So far, she hadn't found anything. She did talk to several witnesses, though. Most people didn't have good things to say about him, _especially_ on Ilias continent. However, the man remained elusive for now.

Suddenly, Alice popped into the room, holding what looked like a zombie.

Tamamo looked up from her reading, her eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Deal with this." Was all Alice said, before popping back out of existence.

Tamamo stared at the spot where the Monster Lord had occupied just seconds ago, not quite sure how to react. With a sigh, she closed her book, and went to inspect the corpse.

It was facedown, so she turned it over. Her eyes widened when she saw the mask.

This was the man that Alma had told her about! He was as disgusting as she'd described, with slimy, tattered clothes, and rotten flesh. There were several holes in his body, allowing her a full view of the rotten organs within.

Looking closer, she watched with grim fascination as some of the holes slowly closed, flesh and muscle sluggishly knitting itself back together.

There was a curious blend of magic residing within him. She sensed the power of the wind, which confirmed Alma's story, but there was more than just that. Within him was a lot of dark magic. No, that wasn't quite right. The magic was very similar to dark magic, but it in fact wasn't dark magic.

It almost seemed like there were two different sources of this strange energy within the man, which raised Tamamo's suspicion.

He clearly wasn't dead. All that magic swirling within him was proof enough of that.

Sighing, she picked him up.

"Well, to the cells with you." She muttered, carrying him to the dungeon.

On her way there, she passed by Alma Elma, whose eyes widened when she saw Tamamo carrying the man.

"Where did you find him?" Alma asked frantically.

"Alice dumped him here." Tamamo responded without stopping. "I plan to get some answers out of him when he wakes up."

Climbing down steps while holding a massive body is a little difficult, so Tamamo may or may not have just let him roll down a couple flights.

Finally reaching the dungeon, she laid him in one of the cells, and walked out, locking the door behind her. She then cast a couple spells on both the bars and the door. These were to reinforce them, in case the man got any bright ideas.

Standing outside the cell, she was about to leave when an idea overcame her. She had telepathy. Why didn't she just use that?

Carefully, Tamamo reached into his mind.

"_Hello?"_ She mentally called out. "_Can you hear me?"_

Two voices responded immediately.

_Huh?_

_**Huh?**_

Tamamo's eyes narrowed. There were two minds in there! How was that possible? This required further investigation.

"_What are your names?" _Tamamo asked.

_**My name's Jason Voorhees.**_

_My name's Jackson Morris._

Again, the voices seemed to speak at the exact same time. They seemed to take notice of this, as surprise flooded both of their thoughts.

_**Who are you?**_

_I should be asking you that, pal._

_**Why are you in my body?**_

_I don't fucking know! I just woke up here a few weeks ago_

The one known as Jason seemed taken aback by Jackson's use of language.

_**Don't say that! That's wrong!**_

_Don't tell me how to talk, asswipe. _

_**Stop, or I'll have to punish you.**_

_Really? What are you gonna do?_

_**I'll kill you.**_

_I'd like to see you try, pal._

"_Both of you shut up!"_ Tamamo mentally exclaimed, entering her "Mom" mode. "_You're both in a lot of trouble already, so don't make it worse."_

They both seemed to quiet down at that. Although, Jason seemed more affected by her outburst than Jackson. Interesting…

Thinking back on the information Yao had uncovered while tracking them, Tamamo tried to think about what to ask them. She decided to bring up Harpy Village.

"_So, what happened at Harpy village?"_ Tamamo asked.

_I dunno. I've never been there._

_**What's a harpy?**_

Tamamo sighed. This might be a bit more difficult than she first thought.

"_Harpies are bird people, Jason. Do you know anything about a village with bird people?"_ She asked.

_**Oh! I've been there.**_

"_Did you kill anyone there?"_ Tamamo asked.

_**Only the bad people. I didn't hurt any innocents.**_

Tamamo raised an eyebrow. Bad people? From what she heard, he killed a couple and some guards.

"_Who were these bad people?"_ She asked.

_**Two people were doing bad things, so I stopped them. Then some people attacked me, so I stopped them too.**_

Jason spoke of murder with such childhood innocence. To Tamamo, this was deeply disturbing. Did he even actually know what he was doing? The way he spoke of it made it sound like it wasn't even a problem.

_… This guy's a fuckin' nut._

Jason chose to ignore that, continuing with his story.

_**Then the dragon lady hurt me again. I'll make sure to punish her extra hard the next time I see her.**_

_Wasn't her name like, Granberia or something?_

Tamamo sighed. She had questions for Jackson, but everything Jason said invoked more confusion.

"_Jason," _Tamamo began. "_Why do you feel the need to "punish" people?"_

_**That's what my mom told me to do. She said I should punish the bad people who do… forbidden things.**_

"_What kind of forbidden things?" _She asked.

_**Inappropriate forbidden things. Like drinking, or swearing, or… indecent stuff.**_

Tamamo rubbed her temples. Okay, so he had an insane, possibly religious parent. Suddenly a lot of things made sense.

"_Okay, so Jackson, what's your story?"_ She asked.

_I just woke up in here one day. Not sure how I got here. This isn't my original body._

"_Did you have anything to do with the incident at Harpy Village?" _Tamamo asked.

_I wasn't even conscious then. That was the other guy._

Tamamo pondered this. She believed Jackson didn't have anything to do with the Harpy village incident. However, that didn't mean he was entirely innocent. She'd have to be a little more thorough in her questioning.

"_Okay, how about the Enrika incident? Who did that?" She asked._

_That one's slightly more complicated. _

"_Explain." _Tamamo ordered.

_I'd found what I thought to be an abandoned village, so I decided to look for supplies. I opened the door of a house, only to get attacked by some blonde chick. She beat me to unconsciousness, and then the other fucker took over._

While that sounded true, it didn't sound like the whole truth. Also, she was willing to bet that the blonde woman was probably Micaela. Enrika was her territory, after all.

"_Jackson, did you encounter anyone before the blonde lady?"_ Tamamo questioned.

Jackson didn't immediately answer, which raised Tamamo's suspicions.

"_Answer me."_ She said in a firm voice.

_Fine. I encountered two guards. I threw one of them, but I didn't try to kill her. Then this tentacle abomination appeared. She threatened to kill me with… those. God, this world is disgusting._

Tamamo chose not to comment on that last bit.

"_Why'd you kill her?"_ She asked.

_Well, she tried to kill me. Plus, she probably killed many other people like that, and would continue to do so if I let her go. Killing her was the best option._

Tamamo agreed with his reasoning, but kept that to herself. He'd defended himself, so she'd let that one go. Of course, he probably didn't strictly need to kill her, but she sounded like an evil monster. If what he said was true, then he did a good thing. That was a big _if_, though.

"_Have you killed anyone else?"_ She asked.

_Only in self defense or defense of others. Despite what you might think, I'm not a murderous psychopath. I don't know about the other guy, though…_

_**I've only done what's right!**_

_Oh, sure you have. Murdering teenagers just because they were near your house is _TOTALLY_ acceptable._

_**They were invading! I couldn't let them just wander into Crystal Lake!**_

_They thought you were a myth! If you'd have left them alone, they wouldn't have stuck around._

_**They were fornicating! I had to get rid of them.**_

"_STOP TALKING!"_ Tamamo exclaimed.

What were they even talking about? Other than Enrika and Harpy Village, she didn't know of any other incidents.

"_What are you both talking about?"_ She asked.

_**Camp Crystal Lake is my home. I must protect it at all costs.**_

_Jason's a serial killer. He murders anyone who enters his domain._

_**They shouldn't have been there!**_

_Have you considered putting up a fence, or even a fucking sign? At least then you would've warned them._

"_Don't start bickering again." _Tamamo snapped.

Her head was throbbing. She had more questions, but she had to stop before she had an aneurism.

Quietly, she severed the mental connection, and walked back to her room.

_***LINEBREAK***_

As Ilias watched Alice teleport away with the masked man, she felt raw anger surge throughout her divine being.

How dare he attack _her _Luka! He was far more valuable then that zombie could ever be! She had half a mind to smite him right there, but she hesitated. The masked man could still be useful. She would have to give him a firm talking to, but she'd show mercy for now…

_***LINEBREAK***_

_Perhaps hiding near the mansion hadn't been such a good plan. _Chrome thought.

Considering the fact that she was now facing down an angry Monster Lord, that was probably accurate.

"How did you know him?" Alice asked. "Did you create him?"

"No." Chrome said. "I only met him yesterday."

Alice glared at her. Chrome swore she could feel the temperature drop.

"Do you know who he is?" She growled.

This was the moment when Chrome realized that the man had never introduced himself.

She shook her head.

"That man is a serial killer." Alice coldly said. "If you didn't know, then stay away from him."

**A/N: I'm going to have to apologize if this chapter is complete garbage. I wrote it in the span of five hours. That doesn't count editing, seeing as I haven't done that yet.**

**I threw in the telepathy thing on a whim. I don't remember if she has it in the game, but since she's a high-level monster, she'd probably know magic that allowed her to do that.**

**Also, if any of you were wondering, my name is not Jackson Morris. I made it up on the fly. I'd never use my real name in a fanfic.**

**Anyways, you all have a wonderful day.**


	19. Clearing Up Some Things

**A/N: So I'm back a little earlier than I expected. Yay for that, I guess. **

**I, of course, don't own the song used in this chapter. The song is **_**Sweating Bullets**_**, by the band **_**Megadeth. **_**I also don't own Monster Girl Quest, but I think that's pretty fucking obvious. ****I'm using the lyrics that came with the CD, by the way. The case smells like an old book.**

**I don't think I'll keep doing songs, though.**

Luka leaned against a tree, sighing as he slowly slid to the ground. Finally relaxing for the first time in what felt like hours, he felt involuntary tears well up in his eyes.

That fight had been the most terrifying moment of his entire life. He hadn't felt as much fear in any other encounter, even against Granberia! Sure, he'd been in life or death situations before, but none had been so… visceral.

In most fights, the biggest threat would've been getting fucked to death. Yeah, that'd kill him, but at least it would be a pleasant way to go.

The fight with the masked man had been the most painful experience of his entire life. Unconsciously rubbing his shoulder, he swore he could still feel the wound. That agonizing, ice-cold bolt of pain would haunt his mind for a long time, even if it had long since passed from his physical form.

Just remembering the fight generated raw fear in his heart. The fact that one single mistake would've ended in his agonizing death probably had something to do with that.

Still though, there was definitely something off in that fight. The masked man had seemed reluctant to hurt him at first. He'd tried to talk Luka out of it multiple times. Luka just couldn't have let the man go unpunished though, so he continued on.

When he'd hit the man with Angel Halo, it seemed to have a profound effect on him. It had truly hurt him.

He'd underestimated the man, and got grabbed because of it. Even when he was right in Luka's face, the man didn't seem like he wanted to kill him. Had Luka noticed that, he wouldn't have buried Angel Halo in the man's torso.

For a moment, Luka had thought he'd killed the masked man. Oh, how wrong he'd been.

The man _changed._ Gone was the reluctance, and the diplomacy. That had been replaced by a silent void of malice. It was like the man had suddenly been replaced by someone completely different.

This creature had nearly killed him. Had Alice not intervened, he would've died.

Luka vowed to be better. If he had trouble defeating that abomination, then he had no hope to stand against the Four Heavenly Knights.

_***LINEBREAK***_

"Why have you called us here?" Granberia asked, her foul mood clearly showing through whatever weak façade of indifference she tried to put up.

"Is this about… him?" Alma asked pensively.

Tamamo sighed as she led her fellow knights into the dungeon. Neither of them had much patience, it seemed. From Alma Elma, that was expected. Nobody was really sure what went on in her head. Granberia was also a little hot-headed, so there wasn't much out of the ordinary there, either.

Still though, Tamamo was a little worried. She knew what was troubling Alma, but whatever weighed on Granberia's mind was a mystery.

"Yes Alma." Tamamo said. "We're going to go see him."

"See who?" Granberia asked, annoyed. "Why have I been left out of whatever's been going on?"

Tamamo sighed again, muttering something along the lines of "You damned kids".

Without explanation, she led them into the dungeon. Upon approaching the cell, the masked man came into sight.

Unlike the last time Tamamo had seen the man, he was standing up, leaning against the wall.

As Granberia caught sight of the man, she felt raw anger course through her entire being. She gripped the hilt of her sword in one hand, ready to unsheathe it and bring down the fires of hell on that scourge of a man. Tamamo must have noticed her, as she grabbed Granberia's hand and told her to quit it.

"Which one of you is in control?" Tamamo asked the man.

The man, who had previously been staring at an earthworm that was inching along the ground, snapped his head up towards her.

"Jason's asleep." He said, flinching at Granberia's rage-filled gaze.

Alma Elma tilted her head in confusion.

"Who's Jason?" She asked, bewildered.

Tamamo prepared herself for the conversation that was to come. Sure, there wasn't anything really bad about it so far, but her patience today had already been stretched dangerously thin.

"Jason is the crazy fucker that's stuck in my head. Well, I guess _I'm_ the one stuck in his head, but he's a fuckin' nut." The man explained.

A puzzled silence fell on the group. Granberia, unsure of how to react to that declaration, settled on annoyance.

"He's being truthful, although I think he could've phrased it better." Tamamo stated. "I've brought the both of you here so we could figure out what to do with him."

Granberia grabbed her sword again. The man jumped backwards, despite the fact that they were separated by magically enchanted metal bars.

"Granberia, give him a chance." Tamamo said. "I spoke with him already, but I want your opinions on him."

"He's hurt innocent people." She growled. "Just let me kill the bastard."

"Chill out." The man grunted. "I didn't hurt anyone who didn't deserve it."

"And what gives you the right to dish out justice as you please?" Granberia snarled.

The man's attitude changed immediately, as if a switch had been flipped. He turned to her, livid.

"You know what? Fuck you!" He roared, pointing an accusing finger at her. "Yeah, I've killed monsters, but I've also killed a human, too! Do you want to know why?"

He didn't give her time to answer.

"Let me give you an example!" The man continued. "I was walking down the road, when I came upon a _disgusting _sight. A man lay dead, drained completely dry. The perpetrator, an earthworm girl, had cornered a _child_ and was bragging about how she was going to _rape _him!"

The man had stalked up to the bars, yelling at her with fury visible in his otherwise dead eyes.

"So yeah, I killed her! I did it to protect that kid and avenge his _fucking father_!" He yelled, speaking with such venom in his voice that it caused Granberia to step back, eyes widened at the man's fury.

"I've been attacked by bounty hunters! They would've just kept following me, had I not gotten rid of them!" He said, his tirade seeming to gain speed. "And guess fucking what? Those bounty hunters were only after me because your _fucking_ boss put a price on my head. It wasn't even me that did anything! Jason was the one who broke your fucking wrist!"

Tamamo watched with shock as the man ranted and raved at her comrade. She considered stepping in, but ultimately decided not to. This was something he needed to let out, it seemed.

"I'm just a bystander who got roped into this train-wreck. This isn't even my own body! I just woke up in it one day, with no recollection of how I got here!" He seethed. "Who the hell are you to judge me like I'm a fucking criminal? I've done nothing but try to survive this godless world! I was ripped away from my happy life, waking up to this shitstorm of sexual assault and endless degeneracy!"

Abruptly, he seemed to lose most of the energy in his body. Tiredly, he sagged against the bars.

"I just want to see my family again…" He muttered.

A tense silence washed over the room, seeming to almost choke the inhabitants. The only noise was of the man quietly sobbing. Granberia stared wide-eyed at Tamamo, her anger forgotten. Alma Elma was also taken aback, unsure of what to say.

Sighing, Tamamo led them out of the room.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Granberia wasn't sure what to do. When she'd seen the man, she'd been ready to rip his fucking head off, orders be damned. It was only due to Tamamo that she hadn't. In her head, she'd pictured the man as a violent, unhinged savage.

That outburst had quickly made everything she thought about him invalid. Part of her thought he was trying to save his own skin, but that was quickly dismissed. You couldn't just fake emotion like that. If you were a really good actor, you could fool most people. However, those with a trained eye could spot anybody who was faking. There were several minute details that just didn't exist unless the person was being truthful.

The man, Jackson, had confessed to killing multiple monsters. Due to the circumstances though, she couldn't blame him.

His claims that there was another person in his head sounded insane, but it was confirmed by Tamamo, so she accepted it as true.

None of them spoke until they were out of earshot of the dungeon. Tamamo was the one to break the silence.

"So, what do we do about him?" Tamamo asked.

"He doesn't seem like such a bad guy." Alma said. "I feel kind of bad for him."

They looked at Granberia, waiting for her to speak. She stared at the wall for a while, before sighing.

"I… suppose I was rash in my original judgment of the man." She muttered. "He doesn't seem to have any malicious intentions."

Tamamo nodded.

"I thought you two would think that. I'm more concerned about Jason, though…" She said, a worried look on her face.

"He's the one that Jackson claimed was in his head, right?" Granberia asked.

"Yes." Tamamo said. "I spoke with him. He's… well, he's insane."

"How so?" Granberia asked, tilting her head.

"Well, his mother apparently taught him that murder is an appropriate response to drinking, swearing, and sex." Tamamo deadpanned.

Granberia's eyes narrowed.

"I see." She said.

Alma Elma was a little freaked out by this. It made sense, Granberia supposed. Sex was literally a daily part of the Succubus' life.

"What disturbed me was how innocently he said it." Tamamo said. "When I spoke to him, it felt like I was talking to a child. I'm not even sure if he really comprehends what he's been doing."

"Well, how are we going to deal with them?" Granberia asked. "Jackson's clearly innocent, but he's in the same body as Jason."

"Is there a way we can separate them?" Alma asked. "I want to deal with Jason."

Granberia decided to not think about what 'dealing' with the man entailed. That body was basically a walking corpse.

… Fucking succubi.

"I don't know." Tamamo said. "But I'm not so sure Jason's deserves death."

Granberia and Alma Elma looked at her, slightly disturbed. Tamamo sighed.

"As I already said, he doesn't seem to know any better. I feel we should at least give him a chance to learn."

Granberia sighed angrily, but nodded. She didn't agree with Tamamo, but acquiesced out of respect for her comrade. Tamamo was usually right about this kind of stuff, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Still though, there were some things that were bugging her.

The way he spoke of his situation… It almost sounded like he was from a different world. That was ridiculous, of course. It was just one of those thoughts that you get in your mind, but no matter how much you try to ignore it, it doesn't go away.

Granberia didn't say anything about that. Why would she? Best case scenario, they would just go "Huh, neat." Worst case scenario, they'd look at her like she was a fuckin' nut.

"Why are we even doing this? This isn't really our job." Alma said.

Tamamo facepalmed.

"Alice literally dropped him in my room." She deadpanned. "What else was I supposed to do? Release him?"

Alma wisely decided to shut up.

"Now, all in favor of giving him a chance?" Tamamo continued.

_***LINEBREAK***_

I leaned against the wall, physically and emotionally drained. It's not like I had anything else to do. Earlier, I tried to loosen the bars. It didn't work, of course.

I felt Jason awaken in my mind. It was an odd feeling, knowing that there was someone else in your head. This feeling was overshadowed at the sudden flash of anger that I felt upon registering that he was there. Whatever, I'd bury that for now. Still though, there were some things that needed to be said.

"_Hey." _I mentally called out. "_We need to talk."_

I could feel his distrust practically oozing from his being. Guess he didn't like me either. Considering all the stuff I said to him, it made sense.

_**What do you want?**_

I mentally prepared myself for the conversation. I didn't want to speak with Jason in the first place. He was a madman, and I heavily disliked him. I understood that the way he acts wasn't entirely his fault, but that didn't change the disgust I felt about him.

"_We need to talk about the shit you've been pulling." _I growled. _"I don't want to get dragged down with you because of the people _you_ killed."_

Suddenly, I felt all of his white-hot anger directed at me. Thankfully, he couldn't act on it right now.

_**Excuse me?! I've just been doing my job!**_

Here we go with this shit again. Honestly, Pamela screwed this kid pretty bad. I almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

"_Buddy, your 'job' is gonna get us both killed!" _I mentally exclaimed. _"You've gotta stop killing people just because they're doing the horizontal monster mash."_

_**That's what my mother taught me!**_

"_Jason, I'm not trying to be rude, but your mother was insane." _I deadpanned. _"She was a hyper-religious woman who went off the deep end when her son died. She's not a great role model."_

Yeah, that wasn't the best thing to say.

He started screaming at me, hurling venomous insults that somehow didn't involve curses. It was actually kind of impressive. He was surprisingly quick-witted.

He was going to continue on forever if I didn't stop him. So, I said something that I knew would get his attention.

"_Do you ever want to see Crystal Lake again?"_ I asked, attempting block any anger or annoyance from my voice.

He went silent. Knowing I'd caught his interest, I continued.

"_As you know, we're in a world that isn't our own." _I explained. _"In this place, sex is simply a way of life for many individuals. You're just going to have to accept that."_

_**Absolutely not!**_

I don't get how he's so dead-set in his beliefs. To be honest, it really pisses me off.

"_Your actions have earned us the ire of some of the world's most powerful beings. I'm not sure if we can get out of our current situation." _I said. _"If you continue, you will never see Crystal Lake again."_

I felt him recoil in horror at my words. Of course, I kept going.

"_I need you to understand that actions have consequences. Murder, being one of the most reprehensible crimes, has an extreme penalty."_ I deadpanned.

_**What I do isn't murder! **_

… Not sure how he came to that conclusion. Last time I checked, killing someone outside of self-defense is still murder.

I'm not a saint by any means, but I still know that it's wrong.

"_Yes it is." _I said. _"But what's important is that you've broken laws! People think of you as a criminal, and they're right to think that."_

_**But… I have to…**_

I could feel his protests grow weaker. Knowing I almost had him, I brought out my ultimate weapon.

"_How do you think babies are made?" _I asked. _"Sex is required to make a child. It's a bodily function that's existed since the dawn of humanity. How do you think your mother had you?"_

_**That's not what my mother told me.**_

Well, that's… inconvenient.

"_What… did your mother tell you about having kids?" _I asked warily.

_**Well… my mom said that when a couple gets married, a stork comes and gives them a baby.**_

I facepalmed. Seriously, Pamela? I get that he was young, but educate your child, for fuck's sake. My mom didn't lie to me about shit like that. Granted, the subject didn't really come up until I was twelve, but still!

"_That's… not true." _I said. _"She probably just told you that because you were too young to know what sex was."_

Another thought popped into my head. Wasn't Jason mentally deficient?

It seems like I asked that out loud, because he responded.

_**I'm an undead spirit of vengeance. Do you really think my physical limits would carry over through death?**_

That was a fair point, I supposed.

"_We're getting a little off-topic." _I said, steering the conversation back to the correct path. _"I need you to promise not to kill people just because they're drinking, smoking, having sex, etc."_

He didn't respond.

"_Jason." _I sighed. _"You don't really have an option here."_

… _**Fine. **_

I was about to stop talking, when a thought popped into my head.

"_Oh, before I forget," _I said. _"Killing in self defense is still fine. So is killing to protect someone else."_

With the conversation having finished, I realized I had nothing else to do. Jason disappeared back into the depths of my mind, so I couldn't keep talking to him, either.

A particular song popped into my head, and I felt a sudden and violent urge to belt out the different verses at the top of my rotting lungs.

I looked around. From my cell, I couldn't see anyone. The dungeons seemed to be completely deserted. It was dead quiet.

So, I went at it.

_***LINEBREAK***_

In the end, they'd decided to give him a chance. Of course, he wouldn't be left unsupervised. They'd send someone to watch him.

Granberia still wanted him dead, but Tamamo had apparently seen something in Jason. What that might have been, she didn't know.

As a group, they walked back to the dungeon. However, as they got close, they began to hear… singing?

The voice was instantly recognizable, belonging to Jackson. The words, however, were not.

_Hello me… meet the real me_

_And my misfit's way of life._

_A dark past is my_

_Most valued possession._

Granberia blinked, surprised. What was he singing? She'd never heard of it before. Then again, she didn't really listen to any songs.

_Hindsight is always 20-20_

_But looking back it's still a bit fuzzy_

_You speak of mutually assured destruction_

_Nice story… Tell it to reader's digest!_

She turned to look at Tamamo with questioning eyes. The kitsune shrugged, putting her finger to her lips.

_Feeling paranoid_

_True enemy or false friend?_

_Anxiety's attacking me, and_

_My air is getting thin._

_I'm in trouble for the things _

_I haven't got to yet._

_I'm chomping at the bit, and my palms are getting wet_

_Sweating bullets!_

It seemed as if he was going to sing another verse. Somehow though, he noticed them.

"… How much of that did you hear?" He asked timidly.

"All of it." Granberia deadpanned.

He winced, looking down in embarrassment.

"What was that song?" Tamamo asked. "I've never heard of it."

"It's called 'Sweating Bullets'." He eventually said. "I've known it since I was a child."

Personally, Granberia thought the song was a bit dark. Wasn't music meant to boost morale? It seemed counter-intuitive.

"So," Tamamo said. "We've come to a decision."

Jackson looked up at her, apprehension clear in his eyes.

"I'm going to be here for a while, aren't I?" He asked dejectedly.

Tamamo shook her head.

"No, we've decided that you're innocent." She said. "But there's still some things we need to address."

The man seemed to brighten up at her words. Still, he seemed to already know what they were going to talk about.

"It's Jason, isn't it?" Jackson asked. "He's promised to behave himself for now, so it should be fine."

Tamamo shook her head.

"Still, we've decided that you shouldn't be left alone." She explained. "While I believe you, we still don't trust Jason."

Jackson crossed his arms.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" He asked, his eyes narrowed.

Granberia sighed. This was taking too long.

"Let's stop beating around the bush." She said, her tone impatient. "You're going to accompany one of Tamamo's subordinates until you're deemed safe."

Jackson seemed to visibly sag.

"So you're getting me a glorified babysitter?" He deadpanned.

Tamamo winced at his words.

"While I wouldn't quite say it like that, you're basically right." She said. "Please understand that this is just to be safe."

The man facepalmed, quietly muttering obscenities.

"Aw, fuck." He grumbled. "Well, I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Tamamo shook her head.

"It won't be that bad." She said. "Come on, I'll take you to her."

She opened the cell door, gesturing for him to follow.

"…How old are you, anyways?" Jackson eventually asked. "No offence, but you look like a literal child."

"It's rude to ask a lady her age." Tamamo said neutrally, as she led him out of the dungeon.

Granberia looked at Alma Elma, and shrugged, before following them.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Chrome was conflicted.

The man she had met was so nice. She wasn't sure why, since she'd only known him for like, a day. Still though, that was the nicest anyone had been to her in a long time.

So it had come as a nasty surprise when the fucking monster lord told her that the man was a serial killer.

That… That just couldn't be true! Why would he be nice if he planned to kill her? That just didn't make any sense!

Still though, a seed of doubt had been planted in her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get rid of it. He had been a little weird, after all. On top of that, he didn't even tell her his name! If that wasn't untrustworthy, she didn't know what was.

Still, she held out hope that this was just a big misunderstanding. After all, his body was the coolest thing she'd ever seen.

_***LINEBREAK***_

"Yao, could you come over here for a moment?" Tamamo called out, waving at a red-haired kitsune.

I mentally sighed. Well, I supposed I'd have to make a good impression. This would be far more unpleasant if we were constantly at each others throats.

"What is it, ma'am?" Yao asked, walking up. She glanced at me for a moment, raising an eyebrow. Turning to Tamamo, she gestured to me, confused.

I just sort of waved, trying (and failing) not to be awkward.

"I have a new mission for you." Tamamo said. "It has to do with him."

Yao tilted her head.

"Alright, what is it?" She asked.

Gesturing to me, Tamamo sighed.

"I need you to look after him for a while." She said. "Report back if he does anything suspicious."

Yao crossed her arms, adopting a dubious expression.

"Really?" She deadpanned. "You need me to look after this massive… thing?"

I sighed, shaking my head.

"Look, I don't like this either." I stated flatly. "However, the powers that be have decided it best for me to be watched for a little while."

Yao turned back to Tamamo.

"…Why does he need to be watched?" She asked, clear disdain in her voice.

This was taking entirely too long. My patience had ran out quite a while ago. So, I decided to speed things along.

"I've got a serial killer trapped in my head." I answered before Tamamo could get a word out. "Me and him have worked things out, but apparently I need to be watched for some reason."

Tamamo facepalmed.

"I suppose you could describe it like that…" She said. "Anyways, don't let him out of your sight."

And like that, she left, leaving me with a very confused kitsune.

I was silent for a time, before finally turning to the woman who had the unfortunate luck of being my handler.

"So… Do you have any board games?"

**A/N: So, as previously mentioned, I'm back far earlier than I expected. **

**This chapter was a little bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but it'll have to do. I was very tired when I wrote it, and that's probably obvious. It's fine, I guess.**

**The software I'm using is a little iffy. If it fucked up somewhere, let me know.**


	20. Starting Shit

Unfortunately, the concept of board games didn't really exist in this world.

Personally, I thought that was a _tragedy_. This world would never know the majesty of Axis and Allies, or Twilight Imperium. I remember when my dad showed me how to play those…

Fuck, now I'm sad again.

…Where was I? Oh, yes, lack of board games. I mean, I understand why specifically those two wouldn't exist here, but the fact that the genre itself literally wasn't a thing was completely baffling. They didn't even have chess! How does a society exist without chess?

If you can't tell, I was more than a little saddened by that. So, I decided to ask her if they had any books.

When she led me to a veritable library of weathered tomes and scrolls, I squealed. I would've just nutted right there, had I still been able too.

…That was gross. I'm sorry.

So, as I set myself down in a corner, surrounded by a not-insignificant number of books, Yao walked up to me.

"You need something?" I asked, my arms crossed.

"Listen." She said seriously. "I have to go take care of some things. Stay here until I get back."

She had been treating me kind of like a child, which annoyed me greatly, but I had a feeling that getting angry wouldn't really end well for me. So, I just settled on indifference.

"Whatever man," I said, already opening up an interesting-looking book. "I could sit here for literal years if I had to."

She looked at me weirdly.

"Y'know, Tamamo didn't explain what was going on, and your attempt to clarify things was piss-poor at best." Yao said, her face betraying no emotion. "When I get back, I'm going to have to ask that you tell me in more detail."

I blinked, unsure of how to respond.

"… Ask your boss?" I eventually said/asked.

I raised my eyebrow when she shook her head.

"Tamamo's time is far too important for me to waste with such silly questions." She said, crossing her arms.

… She seemed to hold a lot of respect for Tamamo. I never liked my boss, so I didn't really get it.

"Well," I said. "Don't let me keep you."

As she walked away, I began to eagerly scan the book with my eyes. It was rather plain-looking, with the only words on the cover being: **"Cursed sword techniques."**

Now, normally, I wouldn't really give a shit about this. Sword moves don't really interest me, anyways. However, monsters were fuckin' _strong_. I wanted every edge I could get in this eroge-inspired world. If that meant having to learn an entire sword-style, then so be it.

Of course, I couldn't practice the moves. They'd taken my sword when I got here, so that was an issue that needed to be addressed.

As of now, I could only really read about them. Perhaps I could get permission to try them out later…

I opened the book, first reading through the introduction. There wasn't really anything of value there, so I skipped to the moves.

The first one I came across was called _"Demon Decapitation."_ The name was fitting, If a bit edgy. Along with a paragraph describing the move, there was a diagram showing how it should be performed. It didn't seem like it would be a good fit for me, though. From what I could gather, you needed to have full control of your body's movement. The rotting fleshbag that I inhabited was made to be tanky, not precise, so I couldn't really do that. Still, I studied it nonetheless. Maybe I could alter it a little bit.

The next one was called _"Bloody Fissure Thunder Thrust."_ In my opinion, that was a stupid fucking name. It's a mouthful, edgy as fuck, and also somehow suggestive.

Name aside, It was a pretty decent-looking move. Just a lightning-quick jab. It wasn't easy by any stretch, but it was simple. Also, apparently you could combine it with the power of the wind, making it much deadlier.

I grinned in delight at that last little tidbit. That move was definitely going on the list.

I was about to read more. Honestly, it was so interesting. However, a sudden wave of fatigue washed over me. Considering the current track-record of what happened every time this occurred, I freaked out just a little bit.

"Jason, what the fuck are you doing?" I quietly growled, fighting to keep my eyelids open.

In response, all I got was the mental image of a panicked shrug. Great, he didn't know what was happening either. Just _wonderful_.

"Fuuuuuuuck…" I groaned, slumping over.

Quickly, my mind was swept into the great flood of unconsciousness.

_***LINEBREAK***_

Blinding light invaded my vision, banishing any other thought from my mind. It… _hurt._ It felt like a spike was being driven directly into my brain. The light completely blocked my vision, rendering me blind.

From what I could tell, I was lying down, my eyes sightlessly gazing at the sky.

"Ow…" A childlike voice groaned beside me.

Startled, I turned my head towards the noise. Still though, I couldn't see anything except that damned light.

"…Who's there?" I asked, digging my fingernails into my legs to distract myself from the headache.

Wait a second, why was I feeling pain? I wasn't supposed to feel anything at all!

My voice was different, too! It sounded exactly like my old one.

I sat up, still unable to see. I didn't hear a response from the voice. Had I imagined it?

No, there had definitely been a voice there. I don't usually hallucinate stuff like that.

"You fools." A distinctly different voice said, anger swimming just beneath its surface.

That… That was Ilias' voice. I'd only heard it once before, but there was no way it was anyone else.

She sounded pissed beyond belief. What had I done to make her so mad?

"Uhhh, Miss Ilias?" I asked. "Why am I blind?"

"You nearly killed Luka." Ilias growled, ignoring my question. "Do you know how important he is to my plans?"

What?

She hadn't mentioned Luka at all before! Why was she pissed at me?

Normally, I'd be more reserved when talking to a _literal god_. However, the agony trapped within my head banished whatever shred of politeness that existed within me.

"No, I actually fucking don't." I said angrily. "You never said anything about him. If you'd told me beforehand that I shouldn't fight him, that whole fucking thing could've been avoided."

I heard her snarl, and I immediately knew that I'd massively fucked up.

The pain in my head intensified significantly, causing me to fall over. I screamed, convulsing on the ground as searing agony roared through my body.

With my hands, I clutched my face, wishing I could get away from this _horrible _pain.

"Gah!" I yelled out, clawing at my face. "It hurts! _Make it stop m__**ake it stopmakeitSTOP**_"

Blindly, I rolled around, writhing in terrible, terrible agony.

The pain seemed to creep down my spine, sending sparks of pure suffering throughout my whole body.

An incredibly powerful wave of vertigo overcame me, causing bile to rise into my throat. I choked, coughing up a disgusting mixture of blood and vomit, hot tears streaming down my face.

I couldn't think. The pain buzzed in my head like a hornet's nest, banishing all rational thought from my mind. I couldn't distract myself from it.

I threw up again, my stomach feeling like it had exploded.

It was hard to breathe. I was choking on my own vomit, unable to get air into my system.

I felt like I would die. I _wanted_ to die. I'd do anything just to make this agony cease.

I wasn't sure how long it went on. It could have been seconds, or hours. My perception of time had been thoroughly shattered.

Suddenly, I heard someone snap their fingers.

The invasive light seemed to fade considerably, allowing me to see once more. The pain in my head had disappeared completely, allowing me sweet relief.

I looked up at Ilias, who seemed to be very proud of herself.

"Have you learned your lesson?" She asked, her tone sickeningly sweet.

I slowly nodded, not wanting to face that torture again.

"Good." She said. "You're lucky that I'm so forgiving."

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed. She scowled, looking at something off to my side. I weakly raised my head, trying to see what she was glaring at. I felt a pit form in my stomach when I saw what it was.

A deformed, filthy child lay sprawled out on the ground, staring fearfully up at Ilias. Even as different as he was, there was no denying that it was Jason.

"As for you…" She seethed. "You _grievously_ injured Luka. At least your friend here tried his hardest not to seriously hurt him."

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. She was much, much angrier at him then she was at me. If she did all that to me, then what sort of hell was she going to bestow upon him?

I wasn't even sure why I cared all that much. Jason, as naive as he was, murdered countless people. What kind of pain had he inflicted on his victims? How many people had he killed, despite their pleading?

Still, his childlike body made it very hard to not feel bad for him. I had a soft spot for kids, and couldn't stand to see them hurt.

So, with much hesitation, I intervened.

"Wait!" I yelled, catching her attention.

She looked at me, frowning.

"What is it?" She asked, annoyed. "I have to discipline this fool."

I cringed at her harsh tone, but continued nonetheless.

"Jason had no idea who Luka even was! All he knew was that the kid was attacking him, so he reacted." I said, attempting to placate her. "Surely, you could forgive him just this once."

She stared at me flatly, her arms crossed.

"…You're defending him?" She asked.

I nodded.

"I'll never let anything like this happen again. Just, please let this go." I asked.

She continued to stare at me, her cold gaze sending shivers down my spine. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she spoke.

"I suppose I can find it in myself to forgive his transgressions." She said. "But, you still have a job to do."

I winced, remembering the task she'd given me.

"I… am unsure if I can complete the mission within the foreseeable future." I sheepishly explained. "Currently, I've been incarcerated in the Monster Lord's Castle."

Inwardly, I braced myself for more horrifying agony. When I wasn't slammed with pain, I relaxed.

Ilias nodded, seemingly understanding my plight.

"For now, you should simply carry on as normal. When the time is right to escape, I'll let you know."

She expected me to break out of the castle? That's impossible! I'd get caught immediately.

She must've seen the disbelief on my face, because she sighed, and shook her head.

"Escaping will be far easier than you think." She said. "It is laughable how unobservant those fools are. I am confident that you will be able to leave without raising any alarms."

I sincerely doubted that, but didn't say anything.

"I'll offer you a hint of advice." She said. "Be nice to them. Gain their trust, and leave once they no longer suspect you."

I nodded silently.

"Now, I suppose I should return you two to your body." She said.

With a snap of her fingers, everything went dark…

_***LINEBREAK***_

I awoke with a start, flinging away the book that was on my lap. It crashed into the wall opposite me with a loud _**THWAK**_.

I looked at my hands, once again seeing the fetid, rotten body of Jason Voorhees. My sense of touch had once again disappeared, leaving me numb to the world.

So, Ilias could hurt me. That was good to know.

Luka's sword could also cause me pain. So, was Ilias and that sword related somehow? God, I wish I'd played more than ten minutes of the fucking game. Then I'd know what's going on.

Whatever, I'd question this later, when I'm not preparing to escape.

I walked over to the book I'd thrown, picking it back up. It was still very useful to me, so I wasn't just going to abandon it.

With the book in my hand, I walked back over to the corner, and continued reading.

_***LINEBREAK***_

After around an hour or so, Yao eventually came back.

"Hey, get up." She said.

I looked at her, somewhat annoyed.

"I'm reading." I said. "Let me finish this chapter."

Yao sighed, slapping her hand to her face.

"You can take the book." She groaned. "I just can't leave you alone for too long."

… She was really treating me like a child.

"You left me here for a while, and I didn't do anything." I deadpanned. "You could just let me stay here. I'm not gonna set the fuckin' castle on fire."

Yao shook her head, frowning.

"Tamamo didn't like that I left you alone at all." She said. "I have to keep my eye on you until told otherwise."

I sighed, getting up from the floor. Grabbing the book in my hand, I noticed her eyes trail over the book's title. Upon reading it, her eyes narrowed it.

"I see you've been busy reading." She said neutrally.

I gulped, wary of where this conversation was going.

"Yep." I said. "I figured I'd learn some stuff for when I get out of here."

She gazed at me, seemingly studying me. After a moment, she let out a sigh.

"Very well." Yao said. "Just don't try out those moves without supervision."

That last comment made me a little agitated for some reason. It wasn't like I was going to cut down the next monster I saw.

I wanted to point out that I was, in fact, an adult, but I ultimately decided it would be pointless. She'd been treating me like a child so far, and would probably continue to do so.

So, I followed her out into some kind of training area, which was inhabited by a shit-ton of prepubescent kitsunes. They were just dicking around, talking and whatnot. However, when Yao came into their view, they all seemed to straighten up, going silent almost immediately. Some looked at me, confused. I couldn't blame them. I'd be confused if I saw a 7 foot zombie man walking with my teacher. That shit just doesn't happen.

I turned to her, one eyebrow raised.

"You've really put some discipline into these kids." I observed. "They shut up _real_ quick when you walked in."

She scoffed, shaking her head.

"It took them more than four seconds to completely quiet down." She said, loud enough for the group to hear. "It seems that they'll be doing laps again."

The kitsunes wisely started running.

"Hey, Yao? Aren't these kids a little young to be training?" I asked. "I mean, they look like they're no older than six years old."

In response, she shrugged.

"Gotta start some time." Yao said. "It's better to do it when they're younger, so they're used to it."

That made sense, I supposed. It was just mildly off-putting to see such a large group of children be so disciplined. Herding children was like herding cats. It didn't work.

…And now I'm imagining someone trying to organize a herd of neko children. For fuck's sake, that'd go _terribly_.

My mind goes weird places sometimes.

I shook my head, snapping out of my strange thoughts. I walked over to an uninhabited corner, and sat down, book in hand.

I continued to peruse the different techniques, memorizing as much as I possibly could. They all seemed to have… rather interesting names. Another move that interested me was called "Demon skull beheading." From a high location, you drop down with your sword, slicing through your target with incredible ease.

In other words, you dropped on them like a sack of bricks. Considering my rather large weight, it would be _very effective_.

However, there were a couple problems with it. For one, it was only really useful in a handful of very specific situations, most of which I would likely never find myself in. Also, there was a specific way you had to fall, in order to maximize your speed. Have you ever tried to pull off any precise movement when you physically couldn't feel anything? Let me tell you, it's not easy.

I'm repeating myself, but I cannot stress enough my lack of fine motor skills. I'll be surprised if I can still write. Jason can, but he's lived with this body for years.

So, I filed it under the "Cool, but ultimately useless" tab in my brain.

Really, most of these moves weren't really useful to me. Still, that "Thunder Thrust" was stupidly useful, especially when considering that it could be mixed with wind magic.

…You know, how _did_ Jason steal some of that magic? All he did was touch that lady, and suddenly he's got control over a fuckin' element! How the hell does that even work?

Idly, I summoned it in my hand, feeling it course through my dead veins. It held a sort of unpredictable edge, like it'd go crazy if I didn't keep a tight grasp on it. A part of me wanted so badly to just let it go wild. It made me want to _**move.**_

But, I didn't do that. That would draw undue attention to me. Instead, I decided to see how long I could keep it running.

After keeping it active for about thirty seconds, it started physically shake my hand. Fifteen seconds after that, the wind began to carve into my flesh, slicing my putrid, undead skin into ribbons. Black pus oozed out and was immediately picked up by the wind, sending globs of it everywhere.

Eventually, my pointer finger popped off, shooting all the way to the other side of the room. It hit the wall with a noticeable _**THWAK**_, causing a bunch of kitsunes to stop what they were doing and look in the direction of the sound.

I quickly cut the flow of magic off, banishing the wind deep within my soul. I stared dumbly at the stump where my finger once was, bewildered.

Okay, so overusing that is a _bad_ _idea_. That's good to know.

After that, I went back to reading, killing time until my finger grew back. There was a section in the book that discussed the backstories of the different techniques. They were a lot… bloodier then I thought they'd be. Honestly, I didn't really expect it, considering this world's lewd nature.

Some of them were downright ridiculous though. Apparently, some lady had beheaded enough soldiers to make a fucking set of stairs just so she could climb a wall.

Seriously, this is in the book! It isn't just some fucked up myth, either. There are _detailed_ first-hand accounts about this! This is a real historical event!

I was in the middle of contemplating how many severed heads you needed to make a set of stairs, when all of a sudden, I was rudely interrupted by Yao.

"Hey." She said, bringing me out of my admittedly demented thoughts.

I looked up at her.

"You need something?" I asked.

She stared down at me, gazing especially at my half-regenerated finger.

"What did you do?" She asked, crossing her arms. "I sensed wind magic from you. How did you do that?"

I was confused for a moment, before remembering that she'd never actually seen me do that.

Well, I didn't trust her. She probably didn't trust me either, but that was besides the point. I wasn't sure how she'd react to the fact that Jason had sucked it out of that succubitch. So, I settled for giving an overall useless answer.

"I dunno." I said, shrugging. "I can do it, and that's all that matters."

She frowned, narrowing her eyes.

"I find that hard to believe." She said neutrally.

She didn't buy my bullshit. Honestly, I expected this. Still, I didn't back down.

"Do you think that the rotting, possibly insane man knows what's going on at any time?" I asked, tilting my head. "Hell, I only recently got over the existential crisis of 'am I a zombie?' My mental state is firmly planted in the shitter at all times."

Seriously, I was worried about that shit until I ran into Chrome. That whole thing made me realize something important. No matter how bad it got, at least I didn't have to guzzle semen in order to live. **(A/N: I can't believe I typed that with my own two hands. That mental image made me gag, and now you all have to suffer with me.)**

Have I mentioned how much I hate this world? Because I _really _do. And the fucked up thing is that I'd _like _this world if I weren't a soggy, putrid cadaver. I'd probably jump dick first into a slime girl if I could feel anything down there!

I could feel Jason's disapproving thoughts, but I didn't care about them. I was, and always will be, a shameless bastard.

Although, sex is kinda gross when you don't get anything out of it. Maybe that's part of the reason why Jason hates it so much.

Anyways, we're getting off topic. I can tell you that spacing out in the middle of a conversation is considered rude. And, while I normally wouldn't give a shit about that, Yao could probably snap me in half. I rather enjoy being able to use my legs, thank you very much.

I could tell that she was mildly put off by my remark. I wasn't quite sure if she was considering my excuse, or if she was just really weirded out. So, I continued to drive the point home.

"I mean, _look at me._" I said, gesturing to my body. "This body looks like its spent the better part of ten years submerged in a lake, which would make sense considering it _has_ been sitting in a pond for a decade."

Yao was silent for a moment, seemingly processing what the hell I'd just said. When she finished that, she just looked at me with slight hint of curiosity.

"How are you alive?" She asked.

I shrugged, idly noting that my hand was still leaking pus. Jeez, time felt slow as shit when you were talking with someone that you didn't want to interact with. It felt like half an hour had passed, even though it probably was about five minutes at most.

"Hey." I said, gesturing back to the kitsune children. "Don't you have to like, teach them, or something?

Yao sighed, and nodded.

"Don't act up." She said, turning back to the rambunctious brood of young kitsune. "I'm watching you."

I blinked. That comment _really_ pissed me off, and I wasn't able to shut my mouth in time.

"I'm not the fucking dumbass you think I am." I growled, feeling anger swell up within me. "You keep treating me like a kid and its _pissing me off._"

I wasn't sure why I was so angry. Looking back, it's obvious that I was having another episode. The last time that happened, I'd eviscerated a bandit.

She turned back to me, one eyebrow raised.

"The way you're acting now doesn't seem like how a rational adult would act." She deadpanned. "I'll treat you like one when you quit throwing a tantrum."

That was the final straw. The barely contained rage exploded within me.

I felt Jason try to wrest control from me, which only served to stoke the fire of anger burning within me.

I gave Jason a mental shove, and prepared to give this bitch a piece of my mind.

… You know, this is the second mental breakdown I've had in the past 48 hours.

"You… You _**CUNT**_!" I roared, feeling the wind rage within me. Snarling, I swung my fist, landing a heavy right hook on her face.

A shockwave exploded outwards, shaking the earth beneath me. Several of the kitsune children were knocked over, despite the fact that they were a good thirty feet from us.

She stumbled backwards, seemingly flabbergasted.

"You… hit me." She said in a dazed tone. "How is that possible, I couldn't even process your attack."

Quickly, her shock melted into cold fury. Her eyes blazed as she glared at me, almost seeming to glow.

"You… You _dare?"_ Yao snarled, baring her incredibly sharp teeth. "You dare hit me?!"

Enraged, I readied myself for another wind infused punch—

— Only for my arm to fucking _explode_, showering both me and Yao with globs of pus and shards of bone.

I stared at the stump, my rage freezing instantly. What the hell had just happened?!

Yao laughed mockingly, amused at my predicament.

"You fool!" She sneered. "You pushed your body past its limit with that attack! How are you going to fight now?"

It must've been the wind. I used too much at once, and it blew up my arm. I'd known that would happen, and yet I still overdid it.

'_I am a fucking idiot.'_ I thought.

Jason agreed.

I suddenly felt an incredible wave of killing intent coming from Yao. Before I could get a single word out, she had her hand around my throat.

And suddenly I was flying through the air.

**A/N: If you look closely during the chapter, you can notice me going through the five stages of exhaustion. I'm writing this at six in the morning, having not slept since yesterday. **

**Insomnia is a real bitch.**

**Anyways, I'm sorry for the delay. I got really sick recently because I ate some bad food. **

**Food poisoning is **_**also**_** a real bitch.**

**I dunno how to feel about this chapter. On one hand, I designed our main character to be an impulsive dumbass, but on the other, I think that the whole thing with Yao felt a little forced. **

**I wasn't sure what the hell I was on about when Ilias suggested that Jackson gain their trust. That was never part of the plan.**

**Let me know what you thought.**

**Also, I just want to say that I never expected to write twenty fucking chapters of this thing, but here we are. **


End file.
